Is it possible that an opinion can be correct or incorrect, right or wrong?
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| Sat, 07-28-2012 - 12:37pm |
In recent days, one of these discussions has hit on the point that an opinion cannot be "correct", or "right"....and I have not gone back to find the thread, or the exact word, but I think the general connotation is understood.
It made me think and wonder if there are correct or incorrect opinions. When you are as sure of your stances and positions as I am in mine, the first, and easiest answer is, "of course there are right and wrong opinions....the ones that are "right" are in agreement with mine, the ones that are wrong, are not"...but I know that is a part of my smart (posterior) personality...and wouldnt at all suffice in this group. :-) I am sure that no one else here ever has those types of feelings and thoughts, but I am comfortable enough with all here to admit that I do, sometimes.
Getting past that, I have still wondered about the possibility....are there opinions that are right, or wrong? Correct, or incorrect? What do you think?
Sonny
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The definition of opinion in the piece to which you linked seems a bit narrow. What is the source of the link? Is it specific to a particular discipline? It seems rather elementary to me, but that's just my opinion..
Dictionary.com defines an opinion as:
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
I'll ask again:
If a mother's opinion is that her son has strep throat and after 48 hours the throat culture grows streptococcus, then can't one say that her opinion was correct?
I'm curious as to how you square this example with "You can prove a fact but not an opinion."?
shell
To further complicate matters, "facts" DO change. At one time, for instance, Pluto was considered to be a planet. Stomach ulcers were thought to be caused by stress, not heliobacter pylori.
Did you ever take geometry? Have to do proofs?
If you had, I think you would understand the systematic use of logic and facts or generally accepted theories to prove a premise.
I'm getting the distinct impression that what's being sought here is an endorsement of truthiness* as incontrovertible fact ("correct" or "right") while simultaneously expecting other to agree. Opinions are, by nature, subjective, not provable. Individual components of an opinion can be evaluated for veracity. And the way the components are assembled and presented can be evaluated for logic. It's much like making a case in court. Here, the "judge" and "jury" are other iVillage members.
*Truthiness is a quality characterizing a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness
For what it's worth, I'd say a fact is always true. If it is no longer true, then it never was a fact. Pluto is the same as it was when we called it a planet, it has not changed.
It was once thought to be a fact that all stars were the same distance from the Earth. The fact has always been that they are not, and never were. It was never a fact that they were all the same distance from the Earth.
IMHO, the journey to truth is one we're making as a species.
Seems to me that when people want to claim obvious opinion as "correct" or "right", there's even less chance of getting to truth.
Not sure what geometry has to do with this? I don't know where you took math, but geometry is not based on opinion.
Geometry- The mathematics of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids.
Mathematics- the science of numbers and their operations..
shell
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