Dr Sam's clear thinking techniques #1: Fact vs opinion

I was thinking yesterday.

Nothing unusual about that, it's kind of my thing. It occurred to me that there were a bunch of things about language, thinking, and generally making sense, that people - including here on Steemit - don't always do as well as they could. This morning, I started making a list of these things, with the aim of just posting it with no explanation, as a kind-of 'fuck-you' to a civilisation that seems more determined than ever to throw away the intellectual lessons of the past 5,000 years.

By the time I got to item number 25, my wife pointed out that this was going to sound unfeasibly passive-aggressive and wouldn't actually be very constructive. I'm pretty sure she's right on both counts. So, I'm going to work my way down this list over the next few weeks with brief and (hopefully) understandable explanations.

Some of these ideas are very general, others quite specific. If they are presented in any logical order, that's a combination of dumb luck and subconscious thought. Here's the first one:

1. Facts and opinions might not be the same thing.

fact: A thing that is known or proved to be true.

opinion: A view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

What you think about something- the attitude you hold to a given proposition - is not necessarily the same as whether or not that thing exists or whether or your statements about it satisfy anything like being 'true' (whatever that means).

Examples:

"I think that the sky is a blue" expresses an opinion, whereas the sky actually being blue is a fact.

"@ned has perfect hair" expresses an opinion. If his hair does resemble some platonic form or universal expression of the ideal of perfect hair, that would be a fact.

It is important to not overstate the importance of opinions. My opinion on the number of sides triangles have, or whether or not the moon-landings were fake, has no effect on the analytic truths of geometry or the actual location of astronauts in time and space. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan is reported to have said: "You’re entitled to your own opinions. You’re not entitled to your own facts."

Finally, just because an opinion does seem to reflect a true state of the world, it does not mean the person expressing it formed this view in any sensible way.

Thanks for reading. As always, your support is deeply appreciated.

Image credit: @imkareencajes - I drew Ned Scott as my way to say Thank You.