It May Only Be My Opinion, But...

Since some hack journo completely misinterpreted the theories of mathematical fallacy, and misunderstood the ideas behind scientific proof, a decade or so ago, there has been an apparently widespread misconception evident mainly on internet social media platforms and internet forums that there is no longer anything which can be regarded as "fact"

Scientific theory does indeed state all theorems are tentative, and provisional, and that nothing is final 

However this seems to be taken to extremes by the naive and impressionable, or the wouldbe exploiter, and there is no phrase which is more insulting, denigrating, and guaranteed to stop any worthwhile debate dead in its tracks, than the often used:

"but that of course, is only your opinion!"

Let us then, just for a moment consider that there are no longer any verifiable facts, and that everything is therefore "opinion". Working from this hypothesis, there must be some degrees of opinion: a continuous line of variations of opinion perhaps, with one extreme being:

• Based entirely on known truisms, axioms, experience, knowledge, verifiiable facts ( oh I forgot: they don't exist), best practices, respect, democratically devised belief systems, accepted or widely practiced protocols,  accepted procedures, ethics, standards ( esp of right/wrong, corrct/incorrect, good/bad), observations, opinions of authorities and experts in the particular field....and, well the list goes on...

An infinitely variable number of opinions, lead headlong to the opposite extreme: 

• Based entirely on one person's selfish agenda to persuade or exploit to their own advantage.

It may only be my opinion, based on observation, but it seems the quickest people to play 

the “Opinion” card, and those who use it most often tend to hover around the latter extreme given above.

Take for instance, an internet forum, where a member, usually a newcomer to the field asks for advice on some topic or other...yes there are still those non internet savvy and naive who think forums might provide accurate ( I'd say that there is another problematic word) or even useful advice.

Usually the best, and sometimes even reliable advice is given early in the responses from a reasonably informed, or in some cases a very experienced member who would in the old world B.I. (before internet), be regarded as an "expert"...although in reality not many of these types of people with real knowledge stoop to involving themselves in the majority of internet forums anymore...bitter experience has cured them of that.

The responses of course , usually go on for another two to three pages, mainly scrapping between the less informed, the less knowledgeable, the blustering bluffers, the egotists, and the attention seekers: mostly disputing, correcting, refuting, denying outright, and adding completely irrelevant digression and aggression to all that has gone before.

And then: completely overwhelmed, defeated, deflated, and shown to be bereft of any knowledge at all to support his own selfish agenda any longer, one of the exploitation mongers, instead of slinking away, tail between his legs, in desperation plays the card: 

“but of course all that is only opinion!”

And that’s a fact!

Or maybe it’s just my opinion?

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