On Apr 8, 2005, at 4:17 PM, Dave Land wrote:
I wonder if we couldn't have more effective discussions here if we said things like "I couldn't find a compelling justification the invasion" instead of "the invasion was unjustified."
The former asserts one's own observation, not subject to contradiction (ha!), while the other asserts an opinion as though it were truth, subject to lengthy and quarrelsome debates.
Well, why though? Isn't everything we state that is less than 100% provable an opinion? Isn't it valid to read in the phrase "In my opinion..." before any declaration, at least of values or judgments?
Obviously that wouldn't work for things like math ... [In my opinion] 2 + 2 = 4. But isn't it self-apparent that when I say the Iraq war is unjustifiable, I am issuing my own opinion on the topic?
And my understanding is that opinions are generally taken by their holders as truth, and that only lengthy and occasionally quarrelsome debates are how those opinions got aired and maybe changed -- or at least altered.
But it seems excessive to me to feel that we *must have* the "in my opinion" part before an opinion is actually rendered; to me it's a little like instruction manuals that label the English section "English", the French section "Français" and the Spanish section "Español". Assuming one has moderate background in various languages, context will tell one very quickly which language one is reading. One's native tongue will be easiest, of course, and doesn't need to be labeled at all.
I sometimes feel the same is the case with a forum wherein various topics -- many of them having to do with opinions -- are discussed. Do we really actually need to label the opinions as such, or is context sufficient to let us discern them?
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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