Poll: Can an opinion be wrong?

[RooftopAssassin]

Mathematically, scientifically, and in reality an opinion is just a group of words proclaiming something that can either true or false. So, therefore, and opinion can be proven wrong, but it isn't false until proven otherwise. I like to put emphasis on the proven, because saying someones opinion is wrong is not proof.

 

[iTommeh]

Opinions are perceptive. If you feel cold, yet the temperature is 60 degrees, are you wrong? Yes, and probably ill to boot. I figure that opinions fall into categories. There are perceptive opinions and decisive opinions. As I mentioned above, a perceptive opinion is what you see, or feel, or whatever. In the example of race, if you got beaten by a black male, who proceeded to steal your wallet, all day, you'd think "That lowlife, scummy ******. I hate black people!" which is, of course, a perception. It then aids you to create a pigeon-hole which is quickly filled with pigeon because of your previous experiences.

A decisive opinion, however, can not be wrong, nor right. It may be your opinion that God exists, but you can't prove it, and I can't disprove it.

So there's no real yes or no answer to your question, OP. Sometimes, like everything else in life, your opinion may be wrong. Other times your opinion is like a bullet-proof vest in which, no matter how stupid you sound, if you word it right, your opinion can be waved around like a big, thick, rock-hard flesh cudgel.

Just be careful of what kind of opinion you're using.

 

[Thamous]

Opinions are subjective, as in they cannot be tested. You can have a opinion about whether a certain product was good because good is a subjective term. You can have a opinion that Hitler was good person because good is a subjective term and cannot be tested to be true. However you cannot have a opinion the effect of "Hitler was an African" because, unlike good, African is an objective term meaning it can be proven true or false. This is not to say that you cannot have an opinion ABOUT a proven fact, if one was to say that the world would better off without gravity, that is an opinion because better is a subjective term. It is his opinion on how the world would be without gravity.

In short: Opinions cannot be true or false because they are subjective.

 

[thedoclc]

There's something wonderfully paradoxical of voting, "No, opinions can't be wrong," since that inherently says the opinions of those saying "Yes," are wrong. It's like, "Everything's relative." Self-referential contradiction.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Can an opinion be wrong? Maybe, maybe not, but it can certainly be based on ignorance or prejudice. Someone could read a book entirely without the relevant social context required to understand it - and wrongly hate it (or adore it!). While that person's opinion is how they feel, it's based on misinterpretation that the book couldn't have done anything about.

So someone's opinion by itself - maybe that can't be wrong. But who cares if someone says they don't like movie X? Opinions are like... well, everyone has one. What we're interested in is the reason why. The roadmap that brought you to your conclusion. And that can be wrong.

 

[Tiss]

An Opinion Cant be wrong,but it can be misinformed or bad

 

[Apocalypse Tank]

Of course they can.

"My opinion is that people from New Zealand all have three legs".

That's not true. Yet it can still be an opinion.

That's not an opinion. You make no clear stand on a given subject.
That's a clearly false statement.

Opinions cannot be wrong. It is subjective just as art cannot be wrong.

 

[Something Amyss]

Calling something opinion does not immunize you from facts or even being wrong.

You can say the earth is flat in your opinion. It's still objectively false.

 

[Loviathan]

No, an opinion cannot be wrong, however, the assumptions that an opinion is based on can be. An opinion that is based on an incorrect premise should be seen as an opinion held in error, but the opinion itself is not wrong.

However, someone who sites their opinion in an attempt to change someone else's opinion is actually suggesting that their opinion is something more tangible, in this instance their "opinion" can be wrong.

That is how I see this matter.

 

[Athol]

If an opinion is based on incorrect information, then yes it can be wrong.

 

[CplDustov]

If your opinion on what to do in a certain situation is based on false premises then the opinion stands on shaky ground i guess

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Lexical semantics fail.

I'm beginning to feel like I need a lolcat for this.

 

[Moromillas]

Not this again.

 

[khaimera]

[font color=blue] Yes, all opinions that are different from mine are wrong [/font]

 

[Nouw]

It's a never ending paradox so if that opinion was made based on facts it can be proven wrong. Although some things like Samuel L. Jackson being a pussy is WRONG!

 

[Apocalypse Tank]

Of course, if my opinion is that the sky is pretty cloudy today and it's completely blue here then my opinion is wrong.

Different people have different ideas about what is cloudy and is a clear sky. Even an illogical opinion to YOU is not a wrong opinion, it makes perfect sense in another's mind.

Opinions can be neither right or wrong. Beliefs can be wrong, but not opinions.

Beliefs and ideologies are extensions of sets of opinions. How can you say beliefs can be wrong but not opinions?

For every belief there are defenders. Simply because they are out-numbered doesn't mean the majority is right.

 

[Bravo 21]

well it really depends on whether your opinion agrees with mine, just kidding, but although some opinions may be blatantly untrue, arrogant and just generally bullshit, they are still just an opinion, if that is passed of as a fact however, that may be a different matter.

 

[Ethylene Glycol]

Yes. Uninformed opinions and opinions formed based on prejudice and superstition rather than fact and evidence are wrong.

 

[firedfns13]

Yes, an opinion can be wrong if it's made with out logic or thought or out of ignorance...

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Yes an opinion can be wrong because an opinion can be based on disinformation.

"The President is terrible." can't be dis proven because there's no information provided to supplement it.

"The President is terrible because I don't agree with his foreign policies." is an opinion that can't be correct or incorrect because there's no basis for the opinion beyond your personal politics.

"The President is terrible because he's trying to sell our thoughts to Space Vampires in exchange for terrorist robots." is an opinion that is based on untruths and is therefore incorrect.