Poll: Can opinions be wrong?

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DayDark

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Oct 31, 2007
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Opinions can be wrong when facts are involved.

In cases of relativity, opinions can't be completely wrong, but there still exists the difference between an informed opinion and just an opinion, with the informed opinion being the most likely to be right.
 

Kevlar Eater

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Sep 27, 2009
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If people pull crap out their asses for the sake of creating a shitstorm, then yes, their opinions are wrong. Kind of like someone saying "There's no such thing as a stupid question", as both the stupid question theory and the opinion can be challenged and debunked to the point of humiliation.
 

Vrex360

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Mar 2, 2009
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It depends. If someone is saying that they like or dislike something (a movie, game, book etc) and it is based on personal preferance then that is a perfect example of an opinion that cannot be wrong.

However if someone were to make an opinion about someone using blatantly false information (like misquotes or rumors as facts) then that can be classified as a 'wrong' opinion.
 

Gildan Bladeborn

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Aug 11, 2009
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As many people have doubtlessly already explained, the answer is yes and no. Opinions themselves are, by very definition, about subjective matters and therefore cannot be right or wrong. People who say "well that's just your opinion/well it's my opinion so it can't be wrong" are however almost always saying that about a misconception or a conflict of facts which finds them on the side without empirical support for their argument.

If I have the opinion that gravity is a fictional construct fashioned by "the man" to keep us from our rightful place soaring through the sky, I am clearly a crazy person; gravity definitely exists, and I invite any skeptics to test it by walking off of high buildings, heh. You can have an opinion about whether something is "the best" or "the worst", but if you hold an opinion that an event happened at all? Yeah, not actually an opinion. If the thing you're arguing about exists in a environ wherein "the best" can be quantified by statistics, you are also not actually the holder of an opinion - which engine is the best engine is a far different question than which band is the best band.

Basically, anything you can be proven wrong about = not something where you can cite "It's my opinion!" and get away without looking stupid when somebody points out the facts are against you.
 

un533n

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Nov 24, 2008
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To describe the depth of how much an opinion can be skewed based upon simple geography, you have to understand that in war-ravaged places in the middle east, America is despised for how awesome we are.

The outlook on freedom and how a country should function is opinion based. People in charge decide what rights a human being should have, and obviously there are drastic differences when you hop about the continents.

Not everyone agrees on what's right and wrong, vice and virtue.

We're just on another level of understanding. Just like my outlook on life is a little more complex than what an 8 yr old has to offer, it's the same as America compared to a third world country. The options of analogies are endless, but you see my point.
 

Ekonk

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Apr 21, 2009
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Well, if we're talking morally wrong, then yes.

If we're talking as in the 'I think this is a good movie' 'You're wrong'-wrong, then no.
 

Lunar Templar

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Sep 20, 2009
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Yes, see the below XD

AvsJoe said:
My opinion is that Aqua is the greatest band of all time, bar none.
but then i can't get my head around why people like the 360 and its two main (and only real) titles.

but back OT, then can be wrong if it's racist or there fact piled up to rival Mt. Everest against them
 

Vorpals

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Oct 13, 2008
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No, but they cannot be right, either.

Opinions are based on subjective matters, and that might include subjective interpretations of "objective things".

If the person saying that actually believes that, then he believes his interpretation is valid enough to make an opinion. Similarly, opinions can be backed up by reasons or warrants that seem to be true but only because they give reasons why they can be true, not because they actually are. Opinions based on facts also do not have truth values because the opinion is still a subjective interpretation of that fact. As a hyperbole, I could say that I like China for invading Australia, but that would just be my opinion.

Thus, all in all, opinions do not have truth values of true or false by definition.
 

Denamic

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Aug 19, 2009
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People can have the opinion that the earth is the centre of the universe, and that's fucking wrong.
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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Denamic said:
People can have the opinion that the earth is the centre of the universe, and that's fucking wrong.
The problem with that though is that you're just stating an incorrect fact. Even adding "in my opinion the Earth is the centre of the universe" doesn't actually make it an opinion.

My argument is that if you took that wrong fact that you used, any opinion that you then generated from that (e.g. the world is amazing because it's the centre of the universe) is wrong.

Again, as I put in my edit of the OP, a better word would be "invalid".
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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kiwi_poo said:
it depends on your opinion.
I think I'm going to /thread my own thread.

Can I even do that?

EDIT: Bah fuck, forgot to merge the 2 posts.
 

kiwi_poo

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Apr 15, 2009
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Woodsey said:
kiwi_poo said:
it depends on your opinion.
I think I'm going to /thread my own thread.

Can I even do that?

EDIT: Bah fuck, forgot to merge the 2 posts.
I mean, if you think opinions can be wrong, then that's your opinion.

(And a possible dilemma. I have to think about this...)
 

Not-here-anymore

In brightest day...
Nov 18, 2009
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RollingDigits said:
Only if it is presented as fact.
Essentially this. Also, it depends how you define wrong. An opinion can easily be morally wrong - does that count? But then morality is a largely subjective thing, so your assessment of someone else's opinion as wrong is also an opinion...
 

wkrepelin

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Apr 28, 2010
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If it's my opinion that there is no such thing as gravity and it's really magical gnomes that keep me from flying away then that opinion is not only wrong but is, in fact, stupid as well.