Opinions on Opinions [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Alent

2016-03-09, 06:02 PM

Hello members of the playground,

I just wanted to know your opinion on having an opinion is

Me personally, I'm okay with opinions, I have some problems with them, but they taste great

Opinions are best when lightly salted. Too much salt and they're just bitter, no salt and they're completely flavorless.

Lethologica

2016-03-09, 06:08 PM

Sweet opinions are underrated, esp. by people acclimated to a bitter diet. Most opinions work well with some savory component, but a lot of people just add salt instead.

8BitNinja

2016-03-09, 06:48 PM

I've had a few nasty opinions, but I've had a few good ones too

Vizzerdrix

2016-03-09, 09:24 PM

Opinions, when lightly glazed or carmalized and served over a bed of long grain rice. Best served with a side of pork.

8BitNinja

2016-03-10, 12:09 AM

I enjoy it grilled, medium rare

AvatarVecna

2016-03-10, 01:08 AM

I find it amusing that the OP expresses that their opinion on opinions is that opinions are okay to have. It's not inherently funny itself, but it got me thinking on the other possibility: having the rather hypocritical opinion that having opinions is bad. Opinions are "facts" that don't necessarily hold true all the time. I am of the opinion that there's very few actual objectively true facts, but rather a nearly infinite series of opinions that simply remain uncontested as of yet. That doesn't mean they can't be considered "facts", it just means that there's at least a chance of them being contradicted.

The only real facts, of course, are mathematical laws.

Razade

2016-03-10, 01:33 AM

The only real facts, of course, are mathematical laws.

Blue is blue, a rock is a rock. Both truths, neither mathematical.

AvatarVecna

2016-03-10, 01:43 AM

Blue is blue, a rock is a rock. Both truths, neither mathematical.

Some being the same as itself is a mathematical law. Numbers are just the easiest way to explain it.

Razade

2016-03-10, 02:06 AM

Some being the same as itself is a mathematical law. Numbers are just the easiest way to explain it.

Break down, if it pleases you, the equation of quartz

Lethologica

2016-03-10, 02:40 AM

Break down, if it pleases you, the equation of quartz
It is not necessary to analyze the properties of every X in the universe to determine that the statement "X=X" is correct for any X.

8BitNinja

2016-03-10, 09:46 AM

Opinion, Fact, it doesn't matter, I disagree with everything

goto124

2016-03-10, 09:56 AM

If you disagree that x = y, how do you also disagree that x =/= y?

8BitNinja

2016-03-10, 09:58 AM

If you disagree that x = y, how do you also disagree that x =/= y?

Because I can, I transcend the paradox

(I don't actually disagree with everything, but you guys are probably one step ahead of me here)

Mith

2016-03-10, 10:13 AM

Opinions are really important, for without them O birds cannot fly.

Bulldog Psion

2016-03-10, 10:37 AM

Opinions are really important, for without them O birds cannot fly.

I find your wit amusing, sir (or madam). Thank you! :smallsmile:

Nemirthel

2016-03-10, 11:18 AM

Break down, if it pleases you, the equation of quartz

It's actually a fairly large set of equations, but you can find some background on how to do it here (http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/harrison/Teaching/DFT_NATO.pdf). I don't recommend trying to solve it by hand, but that's what computers are for.

JeenLeen

2016-03-10, 11:41 AM

In an essay I read, someone wrote something like, "Tolerance is being respectful of others, even when you know they're wrong."
One thing I appreciate about opinions is the implicit statement that it is not necessarily true or true for all people. I think sour cream smells and tastes like nausea incarnate, but I understand a lot of people like it. It's mentally unpleasant and hard to have productive discussion when one person considers something an opinion and another a fact (here meaning fact as something objectively true of false; one can of course debate whether a given fact is true or false without unpleasantness.

Taste-wise, savory ones with a little salt seem to stimulate the intellect most and make for the best mental exercises. At least, that's my opinion on it :smallbiggrin:

8BitNinja

2016-03-10, 01:17 PM

I think we are biting in to the food allegory a bit too hungirly

Kalmageddon

2016-03-10, 01:25 PM

I make it a point to not respect ANY opinion, ever, because I'm a moron.

8BitNinja

2016-03-10, 01:40 PM

I have an opinion, but no one should care

Knaight

2016-03-10, 05:58 PM

Break down, if it pleases you, the equation of quartz

Si + O2 -> SiO2
Quartz = Quartz

Either of those work. :smalltongue:

More seriously, math is a very, very big field and just about any statement (true, false, or opinion) could be represented mathematically. For instance, under normal circumstances I could say that fresh broccoli is delicious if not cooked completely incompetently. If I wanted to depict that mathematically, then it's more a matter of digging up the set notation needed to put fresh broccoli in the set of things which are delicious if and only if it isn't cooked completely incompetently.

Either way, other people will find me wrong, instead thinking that broccoli is gross. There may also be a group that dislikes fresh broccoli and likes old wilted broccoli, but if there is it can't be that big.

Bobblit

2016-03-11, 06:13 AM

Sweet opinions are the best, but they ruin your teeth too fast

Bulldog Psion

2016-03-11, 10:08 AM

"Opinions on opinions" reminds me for some reason of Jonathan Swift: :smallbiggrin:

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.

8BitNinja

2016-03-11, 01:22 PM

I'm not sure what to say anymore

this thread it too opinionated

AvatarVecna

2016-03-11, 02:30 PM

this thread it too opinionated
Oh really?
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/monkeymind/files/2015/08/Thats_just_your_opinion.jpg
Can't believe how long it's taken for this to show up.

8BitNinja

2016-03-11, 02:39 PM

This thread is about opinions, that is a fact

Red Fel

2016-03-11, 02:45 PM

Oh really?
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/monkeymind/files/2015/08/Thats_just_your_opinion.jpg
Can't believe how long it's taken for this to show up.

http://smashboards.com/attachments/colbert-opinions-gif-gif.20081/
Commence the gif'ing!

PoeticDwarf

2016-03-11, 03:47 PM

Some being the same as itself is a mathematical law. Numbers are just the easiest way to explain it.

This is true in context

But the most famous known fact isn't mathrmatical

Cogito ergo sum

Maryring

2016-03-11, 03:54 PM

I generally prefer facts to opinions. I also find that formal logic can work as an excellent substitute for opinions. And if those aren't possible and I have to go with opinions, I only want informed opinions. Uninformed opinions are like cotton candy. Completely without substance and you know they're bad for you.

Red Fel

2016-03-11, 04:41 PM

But the most famous known fact isn't mathrmatical

Cogito ergo sum

Not exactly true.

Cogito ergo sum is an example of logic - given A, we can follow logic until we reach B.

Mathematics is simply a form of abstract logic - given the rules system (maths), we can take various things and convert them into other things by applying said rules system.

I'm explaining it badly, and fortunately don't care enough to explain it better.

Point is, what you're describing - cogito ergo sum - isn't actually a fact. It's a philosophical expression of what the speaker believed was a logical syllogism, as follows:
Given: I think.
Rule: In order to perform an action, including thought, a thing must first exist. That which does not exist cannot act; for a thing to act, it must exist.
Rule applied to given: I think, therefore I am.
A more accurate statement would be cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum - I think that I think, therefore I think that I am. Which is, again, not a fact, but...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c9fc9ff32ae4550be6e72204431c7a8b/tumblr_mwhfga28YF1qmzlazo1_500.gif

8BitNinja

2016-03-11, 05:44 PM

Not exactly true.

Cogito ergo sum is an example of logic - given A, we can follow logic until we reach B.

Mathematics is simply a form of abstract logic - given the rules system (maths), we can take various things and convert them into other things by applying said rules system.

I'm explaining it badly, and fortunately don't care enough to explain it better.

Point is, what you're describing - cogito ergo sum - isn't actually a fact. It's a philosophical expression of what the speaker believed was a logical syllogism, as follows:
Given: I think.
Rule: In order to perform an action, including thought, a thing must first exist. That which does not exist cannot act; for a thing to act, it must exist.
Rule applied to given: I think, therefore I am.
A more accurate statement would be cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum - I think that I think, therefore I think that I am. Which is, again, not a fact, but...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c9fc9ff32ae4550be6e72204431c7a8b/tumblr_mwhfga28YF1qmzlazo1_500.gif

All this latin, that's hard to understand, in my opinion

Orc

2016-03-11, 06:36 PM

My opinion is that "opinion" is an often poorly-defined word. It's frequently mis-applied to factual claims.

Orc

2016-03-11, 06:37 PM

That, incidentally, is not actually my opinion- it's pretty much a factual claim. At least I think...I was never very good at that philosophy mumbo-jumbo.

Jay R

2016-03-11, 10:39 PM

What do you mean? An African or European opinion?

DataNinja

2016-03-11, 10:46 PM

What do you mean? An African or European opinion?

But... They didn't clarify whether it was a laden or unladen opinion. We need to check that first.

8BitNinja

2016-03-12, 12:35 AM

But... They didn't clarify whether it was a laden or unladen opinion. We need to check that first.

I'm pretty sure that Opinions aren't migratory anyway

DataNinja

2016-03-12, 03:49 AM

I'm pretty sure that Opinions aren't migratory anyway

What do you mean? People change opinions all the time.

AvatarVecna

2016-03-12, 04:58 AM

What do you mean? People change opinions all the time.

A person changing their opinion doesn't make the opinion itself migratory, merely the title of "person's opinion". If I am of the opinion that apples are better tasting than oranges, and later I decide that oranges taste better than apples, my opinion may very well have changed, but the opinion "apples>oranges" did not itself change, just whether or not I held that opinion.

...possibly. Whether a person forming a new opinion that conflicts with a previous opinion involves the opinion itself changing or just that particular person's opinion changing is a bit too philosophical a question for me to ponder at 4 in the morning, at least not one I can ponder and expect some sort of satisfactory resolution for.

Killer Angel

2016-03-12, 05:15 AM

I have no opinion on the matter. ..

More seriously, an opinion is not a sacred cow. I hear too much "it's my opinion, you can't tell it's wrong " or similar variant.
If your opinion goes against facts, then it's wrong.

Scarlet Knight

2016-03-12, 03:28 PM

Opinions are indeed migratory, strong ones spreading quickly over thousands of miles and lodging in far away places or as the wind blows, retreating and disappearing.

Some of the threads in this Forum can attest to that...

Frozen_Feet

2016-03-12, 04:06 PM

While not all opinions are facts, facts can be opinions, which is why it's a torture of semantics to argue f.ex. "all opinions are equal".

Responding to a statement with something like "that's just your opinion" is a rhetorical device with two possible meanings:

"You're wrong, but I'm too lazy to tell how or why"

Or

"You're more correct than me, but I don't want to admit it."