"A fact is simply a universally accepted opinion."
To what extent do you agree/disagree with the statement above?
2007-05-17 06:19:51 · 19 answers · asked by Spurious 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
That's what "universally accepted opinion" means. If, for example, i look at one colour, and i say that it's blue. Then, 200 million other people come along and they also say "yes, it's blue". But then, ONE person comes along and says "no, it's red". Is that one person wrong?.......or do they simply have a perception that is different from the other 200 million people? We will all say that it is a "fact" that the colour is blue because teh overwhelming majority agrees to it. And as for that one guy who said it was red, we can all be willing to justify his claim by saying "oh, he probably has an optical disorder". But could it be possible that this one guy is actually the one who has the right perception, and the 200 million other people are the ones who have the "optical disorder"? So then, is "fact" simply nbased on perception of the masses? If so, then the one guy who said the colour was red is not wrong, because by HIS perception, the colour IS red.
2007-05-17 06:59:03 · update #1
I disagree. If every sentient being in the Universe believes/states that light travels at 10 MPH, it's still not a fact.
As far as what you mention about the color a person sees, well, it depends upon what you mean. If we have determined that "red" is the name of a certain frequency of light, then it is defined by that number. If everyone in the Universe loses their sight, it will still be red light even if there is no one to see it and have an opinion of it.
Where it becomes tricky is when we actually define something, because we can change the definition as a majority if we wish. We can, for example, state that a wage of less than $15,000 is at "poverty" level in the US. Is it a fact? Sure, we can back it up with documentation. Well, that same $15,000 would make a wealthy person in, say, Haiti. We have poor here in the US, but the poor in the Congo are much worse off. So some terms are relative. Some terms are not. Factually, a person can be at poverty level in the US, but in the opinion of someone in sub-Saharan Africa might be that that number is a load of crap.
2007-05-17 06:23:53 · answer #1 · answered by zombiehive 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately, most of the population will simply agree that something is a fact solely on the basis of of a TV commercial, an add in the newspaper or because they read it on the Internet. So I would agree with that statement for the most part.
However, IMHO, whenever anyone says that something is a fact, I would raise my eyebrow like Spock. I never take a statement of fact to be the truth until I, personally, see the evidence.
And, since you posted this in R&S, I simply walk away from anyone who says religion, astrology, palm reading and horoscopes are fact. I've never seen even one shred of evidence that supports these 'facts.' On the other hand, I will agree that evolution is indeed fact. We have evidence in the rocks all around us, not to mention overwhelming evidence that animals are continuing to evolve all around us.
2007-05-17 06:31:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's utterly false.
It was not a fact that the Sun went around the Earth back when everyone thought that it did.
Almost none of the facts are verified, and many are not verifiable. Yet they remain facts.
Illustration: take these two statements
1 - The nearest habitable planet outside of our solar system is less than 200 light years away.
2 - The nearest habitable planet outside of our solar system is more than 200 light years away.
One of those is a fact, the other is a falsehood. Yet no-one currently knows which is which.
It looks like almost all of you are confounding knowledge with truth. They're not the same thing.
2007-05-17 06:23:02 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
In mainstream scientific terms, a fact is something which is testable and repeatedly verifiable.
A "theory" in scientific terms must contain testable and repeatedly verifiable facts. This is a very different use of the word "theory" as used in laymans terms, and many christians choose to ignore this FACT..
As a universally accepted opinion, it can only remain an opinion, so NO, I don't agree with that statement.
2007-05-17 06:30:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I disagree. A fact does not have to be accepted to be a fact.
A fact is the truth of the matter. You cannot change truth with opinion.
2007-05-17 07:31:41 · answer #5 · answered by Old Hickory 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's rubbish. A fact, in science at any rate is something which is supported by such a weight of evidence that it would be perverse to deny it is true- evolution for example. A mathematical fact is different. It is proven to be a fact.
2007-05-17 06:26:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
A fact is something which can be verified according to an established standard of evaluation. The precise definition of fact depends on the context, academic discipline and associated normative principles.
2007-05-17 06:22:52 · answer #7 · answered by AuroraDawn 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I think that is so wrong. A fact is something that is proven, just because something is universally accepted does not make it fact. Back many years it was universally accepted that the world was flat, I rest my case.
2007-05-17 06:25:44 · answer #8 · answered by Jason Bourne 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
it's the way people accept cult nonsense.
like noah's ark.
adam and eve.
etc.
total silliness, but "universally accepted" among cultists.
does that make it a fact. absolutely not. it is cult nonsense.
remember how xians universally accepted the "test" for witches, and the result of that garbage? mass killing.
2007-05-17 06:24:49 · answer #9 · answered by Phyllis 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Disagree 100%.
A fact is a provable truth.
2007-05-17 06:24:41 · answer #10 · answered by Uncle Thesis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋