Fact or Opinion?

Here is something completely irrelevant to anything at all. It's just a simple question I want to pose. We know that every statement in the world can be divided into two categories: fact and opinion. For example, "The Earth is round" is a fact. "This blog is the best in the universe" is an opinion (even though it should be a fact).

Think about it, though. Man invented fact and opinion. Fact was invented by man. In essence, fact is simply an opinion -- remember, fact is man-made, as is opinion -- that can not be disproven. Going back to my example, "The Earth is round": the only reason we can call this statement a fact is because there is no one that can say anything against this statement. No one today will say that the world is flat. The statement, "The world is round" can not be disporven in our current age. Remember, facts change, too. For example, in the time of Christopher Columbus, the world was considered to be flat, not round. If you lived then, then the statement, "The Earth is flat" would have been true; a fact. Again, in 1492, there was no one that could disprove the statement, "The Earth is flat."

Opinion is the same. Going back to my example, "This blog is the best in the universe," is obviously an opinion. I am sure that someone will come across this blog one day and curse its existence. This opinion was made by man and can be disproven because, like I said before, there will be someone who disagrees with what I write on this blog. The only way for the statement, "This blog is the best in the universe" to become a "fact" is to show my blog to every living creature in the universe. This, as we know, is a physical impossibility with the extent of our present knowledge and technology. One day, many years from now, though, a scientist will be able to travel throughout the galaxy and interview every living organism, and if they all agree to the statement, "This blog is the best in the world," then this statement will escalate to the category of facts. And remember, they all have to agree to the exact same statement -- no variations allowed. Again, man decides what is fact and opinion.

This, of course, opens infinite windows of possibility, not all of them positive. For example, based on my theory, God only exists because man claims that he/she heard God speak to him/her. No one has come back from the dead and told us whether or not God exists. However, as a Jew, I am obligated to believe in God, regardless of proof. This also raises the question of what to believe and what to not believe. For example, I just finished a book called The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. (An excellent book, by the way.) This book discusses the Knights Templar, and raises question of whether or not Jesus was a virgin, whether or not God has a female counterpart. (Again, as a Jew, I am obligated to not believe this theory, but that is another story completely.) He backs up his theories using hints from paintings by famous artists, particularly Leonardo Da Vinci. I am confident in saying that he is not the first to bring up this theory, nor the last. But again, his theory exists only because there is not enough proof to disprove it.

In short, all fact is opinion, and all scientific laws are theories that that can not be disproven. Remember, fact is defined as, "Something that actually exists; reality; truth." The truth is just like history. It changes. New discoveries disprove old theories, and so too can new advancements can disprove, or alter the specifics of, facts. Everything: history, facts, reality, and actuality are all prone to change. The change, however, is something that we are afraid of. Just look at Barack Obama -- people were afraid to vote for him because they were afraid to find out what change was. Similarly, the Vatican kept knowledge hidden from common people during the Middle Ages. Many went by illiterate, and only knowing how to serve the lord of their village and how to worship God. Scientists were killed, as well as anyone who had second thoughts about God.

We live our lives in fear of change. The concept of fact and opinion is just a scapegoat to hide our fears.

2008/5768: My Year in Words (And Some Pictures)

Happy New Year's to all of my faithful readers! Yes, everyone it has been a successful year (in my book, anyway), and there's just so much to write about. Here's just a few highlights.

Let's start with the positive points points of 2008/5768:

• My Bar Mitzvah Party, expertly planned by my loving mother. Thank you!
  
• I now have a third first cousin, Kaia Broadwell, from my family way the heck out there in California. Congratulations!
  
• Our family trip to Canada, including Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa. This was our first family vacation (that lasted more than two days) since 2003, when we all packed up and went to San Francisco for a week.
• Several of my writing pieces were published in TeenInk Raw, a website for teenage writers. (Follow the hyperlink and search for my name if you want to fine them, but most are posted here, on this blog.)
• Eppis Fun Gornisht turned one in August, and I broke my goal of having both 35 posts total to this point (this post will be number 41), as well as publishing at least one post a month since January 2008.
• We just received a used, brand-new television, finally. I can now watch TV without all of that fuzz.
  
• I finally got a new cell phone, a Palm Centro. My old Samsung was falling apart at the hinges. To make life better, it was free after mail-in rebate. I now have a phone with a working camera, the ability to sync with my computer, and an mp3 player, which suddenly became much more important, as you'll see soon.
• And, as my father puts it, "The fire-hazard known as Hanukkah."

And now some of the less-joyous parts of my year:

• The stress is on for us eighth with the BJE exams in November. One of two annoying entrance exams to Jewish high schools and Jewish community day schools. I also took the SHSAT (Specialized High School Admission Test), which is an entry test for specialized public high schools, such as Stuyvesant.
• My computer, an old Compaq, is slowly reaching the end of its life. In addition, my old and trusty Toshiba Tecra 8000 is nearing its death, and at eight years old and running the newest version of Ubuntu, I don't blame it. (Mine isn't the only computer breaking down, though. My father's laptop also broke down.)
  
• My iPod was stolen from my car, so now I'm stuck converting all of my music into mp3 (since I actually bought most of my music off of iTunes, these songs are in DRM-free format, which is a pain for me, since my phone can't read that format. -Sigh-) On the flip side, though, it was a first generation iPod Nano, four years old, so it's pretty near worthless, now that you can get a new one with thrice the size for just $150.

Well, everyone, Happy New Year's! Continue reading!