The differences between fact and opinion and how we can be misled by both //
To put it simply: facts are easily verifiable, whilst opinions are a product of interpretation. Those things we can simply observe, verify, and measure are called facts. Opinions on their turn are what we think about those facts (or of other people’s opinions). They can be totally subjective (like finding something beautiful, for example) or aim to explain the connections between facts in an objective and empirical manner (i.e. causality), in which case they are called theories. Whereas facts can be fabricated (simple lies), it’s hard to call an opinion a lie. Opinions can, however, be biased: Most or all facts have multiple causes, and the causes we focus on and the interpretation we build over what we observe are usually influenced by our pre-conceptions. It’s possible to escape false facts and biased opinions, but we first need to learn to identify trustworthy sources and control the bias in our own thoughts.
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We talk a lot about facts these days. In a world with so much misinformation, we’re told to look for the facts, and for the reliable sources that publish them. But what really is a fact? Nobody seems to say. After all, both those who believe the Earth is round and those who think it’s flat feel like they are backed by facts, for example, when they can’t all possibly be right at the same time.
Simply put, the difference between facts and opinions is that facts are easily verifiable and opinions are a product of interpretation. Let’s start from the very beginning: It is believed that, between 150 and 50 thousand years ago, humans assigned sounds to signify the things, actions and events around them, and organised those new-born “words” in a rational system called language. Since then, we have been able to outwardly describe the things we empirically observe, and what we think of them. Those things we can simply observe, verify, and measure are called facts (e.g. “the sun shines during the day”). We often develop empirical tools to sharpen our senses and measurements, and refine our comprehension of those facts (e.g. “the sun also shines during the night, but we can’t see it”). Opinions on their turn are what we think about those facts (e.g. “sunshine is beautiful”) or of other people’s opinions (e.g. “I think it is silly that you think sunshine is beautiful”).
But it gets trickier than that: opinions aren’t just purely subjective, they can also be scientific. Actions cause reactions: one fact leads to another which leads to another in what we call chain reactions. We can perceive and test those links of causality (if x, then y), and try to objectively explain them – which is how we build knowledge. Humans have for example observed that most plants only grow when exposed to sunlight. There are two underlying facts in that observation: that the “sun shines”, and “plants grow”. But the series of events connecting one to the other cannot be easily observable. Through investigation and experimentation, we can try to make logical sense of them. The opinions we form through that more objective exercise of logic are called theories (such as the theory of photosynthesis). Claiming the Earth is flat for example, was first a theory put together by people observing the facts of the sky (first ancient Greek thinkers like Eratosthenes), and became a fact (which some now deem fabricated) once we developed the tools to actually observe it, like space ships, satellites and cameras.
“Theories are hardly unbiased. Most or all facts have multiple causes, and the causes we focus on and the interpretation we build over what we observe are usually influenced by our pre-conceptions”
Theories are hardly unbiased. Most or all facts have multiple causes, and the causes we focus on and the interpretation we build over what we observe are usually influenced by our pre-conceptions (see how to avoid biased opinions). Sometimes this is intentional, and sometimes product of unconscious bias. Sometimes, even, purely subjective opinions are dressed as science (in 1956, for example, the psychiatrist Edmund Bergler claimed homosexuality was a disease because he thought those who practice it are “essentially disagreeable people”, not for any measurable harm to the individual). There are known ways to identify and escape that bias (see how to avoid misinformation), but it’s hard to call an opinion a lie.
Facts, on the other hand, can be simply false. People lie all the time, for a series of reasons and sometimes for no reason at all – they lie about their age, their height, their weight, what they have or have not said and done. Institutions are made of people, and as such they lie as well. Newspapers, research centres, public bodies – they all can lie. Sometimes they fabricate the lie, and sometimes they simply pass it along.
Facts can be fabricated and theories biased, but their original sources offer us cues of whether we can trust them. See What are reliable sources to help you identify sources which are less likely to publish misinformation.
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