What’s an opinion?

[UnbornTao]

13 hours ago, Hojo said:

@UnbornTao Yes the information of opinion can differ from logical fact.

I meant that information can be about something other than opinion, but I see what you're saying here.

13 hours ago, Hojo said:

You only have to take logic as far as you want to. Your opinions don't have to be facts or logically sound. 

You use logic to come up with them but you can stop the logic at any point and the point where you do stop the logic is your opinion.

Like someone can tell you something that makes logical sense to you and you can stop the logic train right there and thats your opinion. You could keep the logic going and come to a different position and that would be your new opinion.

A persons opinion dosent have to be completely logical but you just use some logic to form an opinion. Whether its baby retard logic or well thought out dosent matter.

I don't see why it would automatically have to be an opinion. Couldn't the position you arrive at be an observation, hypothesis, educated guess, etc? You could even not make up your mind about the matter, instead deciding to leave it open. 

I'm not very lucid now 😆

Also, are we sure our focus on logic is adequate here?

13 hours ago, Hojo said:

If someone came up to you said red is wet because the sun is shining your logic could not agree with that because its nonsensical. The person could be being logical to themselves but if your logic dosent follow theirs then you cant form an opinion on it. So we must have some form of logic to form an opinion. The opinion being the logic conclusion we come too.

Fair. We can also see by your example that opinion is often a frivolous matter. Logic could still be used to correct that wrong position, or one could simply admit that there's something more to discover. 

[SOUL]

They are the minions of opining.

[Hojo]

@UnbornTao I would put opinion in a higher category as observation and hypothesis and educated guess. I think those 3 are subcategories of opinion. Like your opinion drives those 3. Or its the metaphysical end of those things. The opinion dosent exist its just what you say yes too. I say a fact is just opinions shared by multiples of beings.

Opinion and beleif are similar imo. Beleif trumps logic and facts to the subject.

Edited Monday at 07:16 PM by Hojo

[ChrisZoZo]

21 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

So, a limit?

Well, when you have an opinion, is it absolutely infinite in all directions? Then it has it is a limit. 

[Dodo]

On 28/09/2025 at 3:23 PM, PurpleTree said:

We have opinions.

We have opinions on this.

We have opinions on that.

We have opinions about others opinions.

Hey look at me i’m so opinionated.

But what are opinions?

Imho an opinion is something you believe to be true. 

For example, in my opinion, I am a human being. But, its not only my opinion, but fact, that I am (not saying anything about that I).

[Aaron p]

Opinions are like noses, everyone's got one and they usually have a couple holes in 'em

[UnbornTao]

21 hours ago, Hojo said:

@UnbornTao I would put opinion in a higher category as observation and hypothesis and educated guess. I think those 3 are subcategories of opinion. Like your opinion drives those 3. Or its the metaphysical end of those things. The opinion dosent exist its just what you say yes too. I say a fact is just opinions shared by multiples of beings.

Opinion and beleif are similar imo. Beleif trumps logic and facts to the subject.

Bring up examples of opinion, belief, observation, and hypothesis - preferably in the same context or regarding the same subject or claim.

I'd say facts and observations are generally more reliable or accurate than merely offering an opinion. Opinion, as I currently see it (is this view itself an opinion?), is like a frivolous "commentary" on something. It might be subjective in nature. Put in its place, it is appropiate, but nothing more than that. It is not conclusive. When it comes to understanding, skill, truth, or performance, opinion is almost completely irrelevant.

For example, we make a distinction between what an opinion is, and our opinions about it.

Quote

etymology of opinion, by GPT: 

• The Latin word “opinĭo” (or opinio) meant belief, expectation, or judgment.
• This comes from “opinari”, which is a verb meaning to think, suppose, or have a belief.

Edited yesterday at 01:32 PM by UnbornTao

[Hojo]

@UnbornTaoCan you hold a fact of reality without having the same opinion on it?

All the facts of reality that you can not hold an opinion on it are subjective and cant be defined that way. Like preferred taste smell or textures.

observation and hypothesis are just facts that act the same way. 

I am not sure what kind of examples you are looking for as all these words mean the same thing (pretty much) to me.

The only thing I can think of it the pencil is brown, when I observe it I make a hypothesis that its brown based on the cones in my eye turning it brown. Therefore this makes me believe that its brown and thats my opinion. 

I can see a difference about opinion and fact that you can lie about your opinion. Generally if you lie about an opinion its cause you dont believe the 'norm' fact and just dont want to disagree. So its more malleable than a fact and trumps fact.

I would say there are no facts of life. Besides that it exists so facts are just a collection of opinions. And facts are hypothesis observation and beleifs and finally opinions people have.

Opinions are something people hold harder than facts because facts are not even theirs. Its a collective there arent facts with one person. So the opinion is something that the person is.

Edited 20 hours ago by Hojo

[UnbornTao]

12 hours ago, Hojo said:

@UnbornTaoCan you hold a fact of reality without having the same opinion on it?

All the facts of reality that you can not hold an opinion on it are subjective and cant be defined that way. Like preferred taste smell or textures.

observation and hypothesis are just facts that act the same way. 

I am not sure what kind of examples you are looking for as all these words mean the same thing (pretty much) to me.

The only thing I can think of it the pencil is brown, when I observe it I make a hypothesis that its brown based on the cones in my eye turning it brown. Therefore this makes me believe that its brown and thats my opinion. 

I can see a difference about opinion and fact that you can lie about your opinion. Generally if you lie about an opinion its cause you dont believe the 'norm' fact and just dont want to disagree. So its more malleable than a fact and trumps fact.

I would say there are no facts of life. Besides that it exists so facts are just a collection of opinions. And facts are hypothesis observation and beleifs and finally opinions people have.

Opinions are something people hold harder than facts because facts are not even theirs. Its a collective there arent facts with one person. So the opinion is something that the person is.

Not sure how to respond.

Could it be that you're giving opinion more weight than it deserves?

If we consider the distinction between the objective and the subjective, we see that facts are, or at least can be, objective, while opinions tend to be subjective. No matter what your opinion is, it won't change "reality." Reality is independent of one's opinions. That's why we need to clarify what's what, rather than think in vague terms. A theory, observation, or hypothesis is more grounded in reality than mere preference or biased judgment. Then again, you seem to be using the term quite broadly, so that is that.

Edited 8 hours ago by UnbornTao

[Hojo]

@UnbornTaoThink of solipsism as opinion and duality or others as a fact.

You cant get to fact (fact) without solipsism (opinion)first.

You cant have a fact with yourself. A fact isnt subjective its group think.

Edited 14 hours ago by Hojo

[UnbornTao]

12 hours ago, Hojo said:

@UnbornTaoThink of solipsism as opinion and duality or others as a fact.

You cant get to fact (fact) without solipsism (opinion)first.

You cant have a fact with yourself. A fact isnt subjective its group think.

What's your point in bringing that up? 

You have five fingers on each hand (probably). That's not an opinion. No groupthink is required to validate it - except perhaps the bit of math learning needed so you can actually recognize and count them yourself. But in any case, it's still a fact, even when it isn't consciously recognized or thought about. It exists independently of you, whereas opinion depends on you.

You want to say that opinion comes prior to fact, but they may well be completely separate - or just different. Notice that, in essence, opining is often a secondary matter.

I'm not sure this is the most effective line of questioning, but there you go.

Edited 2 hours ago by UnbornTao

[Hojo]

@UnbornTaoIts not my opinion that have 5 fingers and it never has been thats group think. Someone told me and i believed it. Having 5 fingers is group think. How can i come to the conclusion that I have 5 fingers on my own. 

I have 4 fingers and a thumb thats my opinion.

Edited 2 hours ago by Hojo

[UnbornTao]

52 minutes ago, Hojo said:

@UnbornTaoIts not my opinion that have 5 fingers and it never has been thats group think. Someone told me and i believed it. Having 5 fingers is group think. How can i come to the conclusion that I have 5 fingers on my own. 

I have 4 fingers and a thumb thats my opinion.

It's not just semantics. Regardless of whatever conceptual overlay we add, there is something there that isn't subject to personal whims or belief. You can see that, no matter what is said, the condition itself remains unchanged - your "hardware" stays intact, metaphorically speaking. Call it five bananas or twenty four pencils, your body doesn't care. 

We're working on clarifying this difference - the one you seem to insist doesn't exist. For now, we're calling it fact and opinion. Put simply: an opinion is an assessment, whereas a fact "exists." It comes prior to your assessment about reality. So you needn't come to a conclusion or form an opinion, but observe what's there.

Also, groupthink isn't necessarily negative, in case that's being assumed. You couldn't be reading this now without that social dimension - culture and others contributing to your learning, directly or indirectly. I understand the desire to assert one's autonomy, but don't ignore the enormous influence the social domain has on your experience. You couldn't even be "alone" without "lack of others."