Fact or Opinion?

I get a kick out of thinking about the difference between fact and opinion. I recently tried to Google the difference between the two, with what I thought were rather amusing results.

Some say that a fact is universally accepted as true. But then, 600 years ago, it was universally accepted as true that the World is flat, which of course turns out NOT to be true.

You could say now that the World is round, and some would say that this is a fact, since it's not really open to debate. Or is it? The earth is not completely spherical, being a bit flattened at the poles.

Others have suggested that a fact can be PROVEN. But the Geometer in my thinks that very few things can in fact be proven. And many things that we hold as fact, simply have never been DISPROVEN.

For example, consider the Pythagorean Theorem. The sum of the squares of the two sides is equal to the square of the hypotenuse. Now, this of course has been proven to be true in our Universe… But like the Earth being round, who knows what we may find in the future?

Certainly the Pythagorean Theorem hasn't been DISPROVEN. But does this mean it's not open to debate? You could in fact run into someone who sees your proof of the theorem, yet still does not accept it as true.

Another idea is that facts can be confirmed with measurement. As in, this fan is blue, because the light reflecting off of it measures of a certain wavelength. But even the idea of color isn't exempt from opinion!

Consider the color turquoise. When I mention this color, each of us probably has a slightly different idea of what this color looks like, in our own mind. The color turquoise can have varying shades. Some look blue to some people, whereas the same shade might appear green to others.

In this case, it is actually conceivable that a shade most people would consider to be green, could in fact fall within the wavelength of blue. Which leads us to ponder who it was, exactly, that defined these wavelengths in the first place. Even measuring them, reflects someone's initial OPINION about which color was what.

They say that being able to determine fact from opinion is a much-needed critical thinking skill, one that needs to be taught in school. This, however, is not a fact, but a generally held opinion. I would debate this, as to me it seems counter-productive to enforce that ANYTHING can be relegated to fact.

Is there any question you can think of to ask the entire population of the World, that everyone would agree on the answer 100%? I think not (oops, and then I disappear, a-la Descartes!).

With all the infomercials out there, and all the raging political debate, it seems to me a better skill for our children might be to learn to disagree amicably. If almost everything we see, hear, and learn is suspect, and fact is not likely to be determined to 100% certainly in ANY matter, it becomes increasingly important in our World to be able to characterize WHY something is an opinion -- and then to respect the opinions of others.

And of course I realize that you might take exception to what it is I say here. You could, in fact (ACK!) think this entire article is a bunch of bunk! If that is the case, I must retort that you are entitled to your opinion!