Fact VS Opinion
It might be because I have watched too much The Big Bang Theory in my lifetime but when I wrote the word “opinion” for my title, a line that Sheldon says in the first season comes to mind, “That’s YOUR opinion.”
I can’t believe that I am currently in a day and time where I feel the need to explain and remind everybody what facts are and what opinions are. Yet, here I am, typing away on my computer because this is something that needs to be talked about.
In the scene I reference from The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is on a team in a trivia game / competition where he gathered random people from the university to be on his team in order to be the only one who answers as he always views himself as the right one. His arrogance in believing that he is the smartest one in any room, in any situation, in any given circumstance, is actually why he had to put a team together because his own friends (who are also high achieving geniuses) kicked him off their team. Eventually, at the end of the game, the final question is one that Sheldon cannot answer. Another one of his teammates answers the question and Sheldon refused to allow his teammate’s answer to stand. When the moderator announces that the teammate was right, and Sheldon’s stubbornness and arrogance resulted in his friends winning the game and the trophy, Sheldon responds with, “That’s YOUR opinion.”
“he cannot wrap his head around the idea that someone knows an answer he doesn’t, he refuses to look at the facts.”
In reality, the facts were that his teammate answered the question correctly. A question, that had a factual answer. Yet, Sheldon, because he cannot wrap his head around the idea that someone knows an answer he doesn’t, he refuses to look at the facts.
This over-explanation of a five second moment in a TV show is brought to you by the reality of the world we live in.
Let’s look at the definition of the word “fact”. Fact has a few definitions, some of them being:
Something that has actual existence
An actual occurrence
A piece of information presented as having objective reality
The quality of being actual
A thing done
Facts are provable. Facts are objective and do not change due to circumstances. Facts can change based on information gathered but that information gathered is based on more provable and actual components.
Let’s take a look at the some of the definitions of opinion:
A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter
Approval, Esteem
Belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge
A generally held view
The issue we have having today is that people are taking that definition of opinion, the one that says “belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge” and applying it to the word fact.
People’s opinion on politically charged topics like abortion and transgender ideology are being used as if they are facts. We have created euphemisms that are being used as facts when in reality we are talking about opinions. We are talking about stances. We are talking about beliefs. In these politically charged topics, the actual provable facts are being completely ignored in favor of the catchphrases and euphemisms.
I’m not going to go into the different stances or even what the facts and opinions are. I’m not here to give you answers or even my own opinion. What I will do is give you some hints to help you figure out if what you are dealing with is fact or opinion.
Opinions aren’t bad. For most of us, we have our opinions and stances based on facts. However, we cannot state our opinion as fact and just expect everybody else to go along with it. We have to present the facts that led us to our stances and let people come to their own conclusions. We are allowed to agree and disagree on things. Disagreement does not equal arrogant, illegitimate, or even wrong. Disagreement is healthy and allows us to learn new information. The way we go about things though is what needs to be worked on. Our opinions are not facts and we cannot let the opinions of popular society be stated as facts either. The problem is, they have gotten really good at making their opinion sound factual.
How do we tell fact from opinion? Let’s look at three tactics we can use to help ourselves.
Words like feel, like, think- feelings are huge in opinions as is preferences. When people talk through what they think or how they think, look for sources to go back to or if their thought process is based on themselves and their own perspective. While experience and wisdom are real, it doesn’t create stone cold facts that are general. Think of a first impression, the first impression is probably based on something that factually happened, however, that doesn’t make the first impression true of that person all the time and with everybody.
Is it verifiable? Can you hop online yourself and find the same information? If you cannot find the same information or verify the information, you’re most likely dealing with an opinion.
Is it biased? If there is any sort of bias, that brings into question the objectivity of a stance or statement or observation. Facts are objective, facts do not care what side of the problem you are on, it will not change.
Unfortunately, we live in a time where opinions are being presented as facts and it is really difficult to discern facts from opinions. Everybody has an agenda and we are seeing narrative threads in every story that is told to the world. There is bias in organizations that are supposed to show no bias. Thankfully, we live in modern age where we have just as much access to research tools as we do social media. Pick up google and learn how to figure out good sources instead of social media from time to time. It’s up to us to find out facts for ourselves and come to our own conclusions because we are not being presented with facts anymore. We are being presented with narratives. We all have to bring out the detective in us to find the truth.
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash