Opinions versus facts
in response to
by
posted on
Sep 12, 2014 01:25AM
Good post, Babaoriley!
I myself are, as you know, very long and strong, but I also like to hear voices of caution, because it is healthy to consider the opinions of others and have one's own positions challenged. A challenged position will come out of the argument either weakened (if not falsified) or stronger than before. This is a good thing, because in both cases your views will come out being closer to realitiy, whether you like the latter or not. This is what this forum is for and what we are all benefitting from.
Personally, I have no problem with contradicting views, even if I don't like them and even if others here might consider them "bashing" or "negativity" and report or remove them. I don't have problems as long as those views are clearly recognizable as what they are: personal views, opinions, beliefs – nothing more, nothing less. If I am confronted with another person's opinion, it is up to myself whether to adopt it or not.
With facts it's different. Facts are facts. I might reject a belief I don't like or I consider poorly justified, but I cannot reject a fact.
That's the reason why I am somewhat picky if an opinion can be confused with a fact. In the post which I critized, I think you crossed the line because you not only voiced an opinion, but you numbers to it. Numbers generally give an opinion the appearance of a fact, and in this case they sounded like a poll result ("95%", "85%") which they are not.
I think my assessment is not too wrong since I have seen posts being deleted for much less reason. And please bear my criticism as being purely factual, not being against you as a person. Thanks for understanding!