Facts and Opinions

In mathematics and sciences we geneally devide statements into two categories. facts and opinions. and a general concencus is that Facts are the statements which are always true, can be mathematically proven and are accepted as true, universally. 

One example of a fact is 1+1=2. Everyone agrees on this fact that adding one with another one will be two. This is such a simple example and a universal truth that people use it in sayings and converstations as example. What If I told you that this is still not a “Fact” ? In fact (no pun intended), In a book named “Principia Mathematic” two mathematicians proved that 1+1=2 and it took them 3 years, 350 Pages and it is one of the most complicated proofs out there. Still to prove this, they used a few “assumptions” which are considered universally accaptable facts, like if two values are 1 and 1, they are equal to each other, which are called “Axioms”. these are essentially opinions which are accepted by everyone. 

Long story Short, There is not a single way to make any statement mathematically a “fact”. its impossible. At the end of the day we still find ourselves surrounded with opinions which are universally accepted by everyone universally. and using those we have established mathematics. 

I don’t like this definition. A better way to define the “fact” in my opinion is that “A fact is an opinion which is considered true by everyone”. 

and an opinion is any statement, said by anyone at any point of time. 

And its important to understand that Facts are nothing but opinions which are considered true. and its never black and white. some facts are Always considered true, like 1+1=2, anyone denying that is stupid. but some facts appear to be  “Facts” but they are not always true. at the end of the day they are still someone’s opinion and enough people have started to accept them as true, so they appear to be true.  

And at this age of information technology and social media and now AI. its more and more important for us to understand this. We can not assume anything as a “fact”. no matter where it is coming from. we have to realise that these are still someone’s opinions and they do not neccesarily mean a universal truth. Allah has given us reasoning capbilities and we need to think hard before assuming an opinion as a Fact.