OPINION VERSUS FACT? | 2006-01-22
One nurturing thing about comments is that they include statements I take for granted and make me take a new look at them.
A Whitakerism is analyzing a reality that is so obvious we all take it for granted.
Notice the "we" here. I would be of no use to you if I, too, had not ignored the same fact by taking it for granted.
So Joe states one of those realities I always took for granted.
Joe says,
"It's important to remember that an opinion is not a fact."
On the point he is making, Joe is perfectly right.
But a person who has spent his life in politics has repeatedly asked a question about opinion polls:
"Are they FACTUAL?"
That was a major part of the way I made my living.
But what was the "fact" I was talking about?
The "facts" I made my living largely consisted of the accurate assessment of opinion.
For me, opinion WAS fact.
"It's important to remember that an opinion is not a fact."
But look at one of my major themes in all my writings. I keep urging you to remember that your "opinion" is a fact that you shold stand up for.
Political Correctness rests on telling us that our opinions are just prejudices while the priest of PC state the real, truly objective preferences we should have.
And, of course, the fundamental tenant of our established religion is that the opinion of an expert is fact.
But that comes right back to a proper understanding of what Joe said in the first place:
"It's important to remember that an opinion is not a fact."
This was a useful intellecutal exercise for me.
But, strictly speaking, Joe should have gone through this whole rigamarole right after he said, 'It's important to remember that an opinion is not a fact. "
But we've been through that already. Joe was the one who said that I should go through the whole rigamarole when I make a flat statement like that.
But, MUCH more important, Joe was the one who said, after our discussion, that what he said originally was NOT the case.
Our mutual conclusion seems to be that I can expect Joe to go through all of this every time he makes a statement, or he can expect me to understand what he is saying in the first place.
I had not thought about it before, but saying what you think flatly and leaving all the quibbles and analysis to the other person does the other person a lot of good. If he is smart enough to be worth talking to, you do him no favor by doing all his thinking FOR him.