Faith, Fact, and Opinion

I can't recall who originally said:

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts!"

It's an easy trap to fall into; to talk as if what you're saying is a fact, when in fact, it's just your opinion! I've made the mistake myself although I do try - unless the point is purely philosophical - to say or write only that which a reader or listener can independently verify. But some things require effort to verify and many people can't be bothered to do it, some things are impossible to verify, so they just accept or reject things based upon their world-view or faith.

Faith is a belief in that for which there is no evidence. Faith is something you never get from within yourself. Faith in yourself is not faith, it's knowledge of your own abilities. Faith - when it comes to instilling confidence - is nowhere near as powerful as knowledge. Faith in fact, is something that someone else wants you to have based entirely upon their say so, they expect you to believe what must only be their opinion, otherwise it would be verifiable and be a fact that did not require faith!

Faith is very confusing and best avoided.

Facts are much simpler and easier to deal with, the only trouble with facts are that you must convince yourself of their truth; this may require some work. It's not surprising therefore that many - perhaps most - people live their lives not really knowing the difference between faith, fact, and opinion. They don't want to think, it's too much like hard work.

Please look around you for independent verification.