It Is Illegal to Have an Opinion Until You Have All the Information

A rumor is repeated twice at the dinner table, and everyone has a verdict before anyone asks a question. Within minutes, a person who was not present at the event has been judged, condemned, and discussed as though the entire story were known.

This is how quickly an incomplete story becomes a complete opinion.

The rule is simple:

It is illegal for you to have any opinion and any emotion until you have all the information.

The word illegal is not a legal claim. It is a mental boundary. It reminds you that forming a strong opinion before understanding the full story is a violation of wisdom, accuracy, and emotional discipline.

This is Lock 1 of the Panama Canal Rule in the I³ framework, pronounced I cubed. The framework describes how Information, Interpretation, and Intensity shape our emotional experience. Like the locks of the Panama Canal, one stage must fill before the next can open. Information is the first lock.

Information Is More Than the First Version of the Story

Information is not merely the sentence someone tells you. It includes the topic, the data, the facts, and the assumptions being used to explain what happened and what should happen next.

That distinction matters.

Someone says, “She ignored me.”

That is not the whole story. It is an interpretation presented as information.

The actual information may be that she did not respond to one message. She may have been driving, grieving, overwhelmed, distracted, or unaware that a response was expected. The event is one thing. The meaning assigned to the event is another.

Psychology Today describes motivated reasoning as a process in which people unconsciously bend information toward a preferred conclusion. Confirmation bias then leads people to favor evidence that supports what they already believe and discount evidence that challenges it (Psychology Today, 2025).

The first story may be emotionally compelling. It may also be incomplete.

“I Heard That” Should Set Off Every Alarm

The phrase “I heard that…” should set off every bell and whistle in your mind.

It signals that you have received information through another person, another interpretation, or another person’s emotional state. It does not prove that the information is false. It does mean the information requires examination.

The writer of Proverbs expressed this principle plainly:

“He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Proverbs 18:13, New King James Version).

The psychological move stands on its own, whether or not you share the faith behind the passage. Do not answer before you hear. Do not judge before you investigate. Do not intensify before you understand.

Dr. Greg Stewart has described having many experiences in which he became upset about something, only to discover that there was more to the story. As soon as he heard the rest, both his opinion and his emotion changed. The regret came afterward. He had been consumed by something that was not even true.

Most people know this experience. You receive a message. You feel the heat rise. You construct a sentence in your mind. Then you learn the missing fact, and the entire emotional structure collapses.

The apology comes quickly.

So does the embarrassment.

The Hardest Time to Apply the Rule

The most difficult time to seek more information is when you want what you heard to be true.

If a story supports your beliefs, confirms your suspicions, or justifies your anger, you may accept it without examination. You may repeat it because it feels satisfying. You may share it because it makes someone else look guilty and makes your own position look wise.

That is where the rule becomes most important.

Proverbs offers another useful warning:

“The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17, New King James Version).

The first account often feels complete because it arrives first. Kruglanski and Webster (1996) described the desire for a definite answer as a need for cognitive closure. Under that pressure, people may “seize” on an early explanation and “freeze” around it. They stop looking because uncertainty feels uncomfortable.

Research in The Open Psychology Journal similarly connects closed-mindedness, intolerance of ambiguity, and the tendency to stop seeking information once a preferred position has formed (Wastell et al., 2013).

The danger is not that you have an opinion. The danger is that you confuse an early opinion with a final conclusion.

Your Brain Uses the Information It Has

Think of your mind as a computer. It does not independently adjudicate every piece of information it hands to the frontal lobe. It uses what it has gathered since birth, along with the formulas you have practiced.

Your brain uses a formula to determine how much to engage before forming an opinion. That formula requires constant adjustment.

If your history has taught you to expect rejection, silence may look like rejection. If your history has taught you to expect betrayal, an unexplained change may look like betrayal. If your history has taught you that conflict is dangerous, a raised voice may feel like an emergency.

The brain is not trying to ruin your life. It is trying to make sense of the information available to it. But incomplete information can produce a confident conclusion.

The solution is not to distrust every thought. The solution is to examine the data before obeying the thought.

Castelblanco Riveros (2022), writing in Modern Psychological Studies, examined the presence of cognitive biases among college students and emphasized how ordinary people can be influenced by systematic patterns of thought. Bias is not reserved for foolish people. It is part of being human.

Wisdom begins when you recognize your vulnerability to it.

Negative Emotion Is a Signal to Pause

Negative emotion is often the clearest signal that you need to pause and gather information.

Anger says, “Something matters.”

Fear says, “Something may be dangerous.”

Hurt says, “Something has affected me.”

None of these emotions automatically tells you what happened, what someone intended, or what you should do next.

The DBT Wise Mind Principle describes wise mind as the integration of emotional mind and logical mind. Emotional mind notices the significance of an event. Logical mind examines the facts. Both are needed.

Impulse control is therefore a foundational emotional-intelligence skill. Without it, the environment rules your emotional state. A rumor controls you. A notification controls you. A facial expression controls you. A delayed response controls you.

Proverbs 25:28 offers a vivid image:

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (New King James Version).

The point is not emotional suppression. It is emotional stewardship.

Research on emotion regulation supports the value of pausing, noticing, and reconsidering before responding. Cognitive reappraisal involves changing how one understands an event so that the emotional response can become more proportionate. It is associated with healthier emotional functioning than simply suppressing expression (Gross & John, 2003). Mindfulness research also emphasizes awareness, attention, and reduced reactivity as important components of emotion regulation (Guendelman et al., 2017).

Social Media Rewards Speed, Certainty, and Outrage

Technology can educate, connect, and strengthen communities. It can also reward the fastest reaction rather than the most accurate conclusion.

A post confirms your opinion. You like it. You share it. Others repeat it. Familiarity begins to feel like proof.

The American Psychological Association reports that people are more likely to believe misinformation when it comes from an in-group source, appeals to fear or outrage, or appears repeatedly (American Psychological Association, 2024). PLOS ONE research shows that beliefs can persist even after the misinformation supporting them has been retracted (Siebert & Siebert, 2023).

This is how personal emotion becomes public momentum.

Online bullying and hostility can intensify when people stop seeing one another as human beings and start treating incomplete stories as settled facts. The consequences can move from posts to harassment, threats, and physical conflict.

You may not control the entire information environment. You can control what you accept, what you repeat, and what you allow to govern your emotions.

Proverbs 18:2 states, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions” (New King James Version). Understanding requires patience. Opinion requires very little.

Run the Lock 1 Questions

Before you react, repeat a message, criticize a person, or make a consequential decision, ask:

• Do I need to get the whole story first?
• Do I need to do some research first?
• Do I need to talk to someone first?
• Is all the information true?

Then ask a fifth question:

What am I assuming because I want this version to be true?

You cannot gather every fact. You can gather what is reasonably available. You can ask the person involved. You can examine the source. You can distinguish observation from interpretation. You can understand the mental model behind a decision before criticizing it.

Assume the best motives and intentions when the evidence allows it. That does not mean ignoring harm or excusing wrongdoing. It means refusing to condemn a person based on a story that has not yet been examined.

Information does not eliminate every difficult emotion. It gives emotion a more trustworthy foundation.

Build the First Lock Before the Next One Opens

The I³ wall art reads:

Information, Interpretation, Intensity

The order matters.

Do not begin with intensity. Do not treat interpretation as fact. Fill the first lock.

Dr. Greg Stewart’s TEDx talk, “Unlock the Inner Strength Behind Your Negative Emotions,” explores the emotional principles behind the I³ framework. His revised book, I³: Information, Interpretation, Intensity – Unlock the Inner Strength Behind Your Negative Emotions, develops these ideas further.

The I³ framework is an emotional-management tool. It is not a clinical diagnosis and not a substitute for licensed mental-health care. If emotional reactions feel unmanageable, persistent, or unsafe, seek support from a qualified licensed professional.

An opinion built on the whole story may still require revision. That is not failure. It is maturity.

But an opinion built on patience, humility, and sufficient information is one you will rarely need to apologize for.

References

American Psychological Association. (2024, March 1). What psychological factors make people susceptible to believe and act on misinformation? https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-belief-action

Castelblanco Riveros, C. A. (2022). Cognitive biases incidence in college students of a Midwestern institution. Modern Psychological Studies, 28(1), Article 5. https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol28/iss1/5/

Guendelman, S., Medeiros, S., & Rampes, H. (2017). Mindfulness and emotion regulation: Insights from neurobiological, psychological, and clinical studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 220. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00220

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion-regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348

Kruglanski, A. W., & Webster, D. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: “Seizing” and “freezing.” Psychological Review, 103(2), 263–283. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.103.2.263

Psychology Today. (2025). Motivated reasoning: Confirmation bias. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/motivated-reasoning

Siebert, J., & Siebert, J. U. (2023). Effective mitigation of the belief perseverance bias after the retraction of misinformation: Awareness training and counter-speech. PLOS ONE, 18(3), e0282202. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282202

Wastell, C. A., Weeks, N., Wearing, A., Duncan, P., & Ebrahimi, W. (2013). The impact of closed-mindedness on the assessment of threat: An empirical study. The Open Psychology Journal, 6, 10–19. https://openpsychologyjournal.com/contents/volumes/V6/TOPSYJ-6-10/TOPSYJ-6-10.pdf

Fokas, K., & Soysa, C. K. (2017). Negative emotion-focused coping mediates the relationships between neuroticism and psychological outcomes in college students. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 22(4), 258–269. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN22.4.258

Try Marblism! They are an incredible staff! Click here: https://marblism.com?via=dr-greg-stewart