[mistrial9]

IMHO this also depends on the type of assertion.. For example, one system defines three broad classes of assertion : pure opinion (I like green); factual references (the current temperature here is 20c) ; and the rest in a catch-all about "reasoned judgements"

Complex assertions and their compounded forms can be filtered by these classes fairly easily. I rarely see this referenced in general comments.

[BugsJustFindMe]

> pure opinion (I like green)

"I like green" is a statement of fact about what you like. "Green is good" would be an opinion. It's funny to me how often people mix the two.

> forms can be filtered by these classes fairly easily

Obviously not so easily. :)

[mistrial9]

opinion is ephemeral, cannot be independently confirmed or denied; purely single viewer information sounds like not-a-fact to me

Opinion is a ghost in the machine—fleeting, unanchored, and vanishing upon inspection. It leaves no footprint for another mind to verify, no independent trail of evidence to confirm or deny its existence. To rely on such solitary perception is to drift in a void where facts do not exist; it is not merely uncertainty, but an absence of reality itself—a whisper that the universe refuses to echo back. --AI Carl Sagan

[antonvs]

"Ephemeral" isn't relevant - a statement of fact can be true at one time and false at another.

Confirmation also is somewhat orthogonal: there can be true facts that we can't confirm.

Conventionally, "I like green" is considered a factual claim about the speaker's preferences. Even if you refuse to acknowledge it as a fact because of the restrictions you've given, that doesn't make it an opinion. It's subjective, but it's not an opinion.

Would you say that if someone is experiencing a headache, and they say "I have a headache", that that's also merely an opinion?

[jurgenburgen]

It seems to me trivial to verify: just ask.

[somenameforme]

Exactly. A fact is something that can be objectively confirmed or rejected. Exactly what a specific person likes is a fact, because it can be verified/falsified by simply asking them. An opinion, by contrast is 'Elephants are large.' The reason that's an opinion is because while it seems obviously true, it's subjective. Similarly, grass is purple with pink polka-dots is a fact. It's obviously false, but of course right/wrong has nothing to do with fact/opinion.

[naasking]

Opinions can only be seen as facts when modelled as time series data. Verifying an opinion X at time T does not entail X at time T+1.

[BugsJustFindMe]

_All_ statements are only valid inside the window within which their understandable context stays constant, facts or otherwise.

> "Verifying an opinion X at time T does not entail X at time T+1."

And verifying that my cat weighs 9.5 lbs now does not entail that he will weigh 9.5 lbs tomorrow, but "my cat weighs 9.5 lbs" is not an opinion; it's a statement of fact from measurement/observation and implies "extrapolated from the last specific check done in the usual way" unless explicitly stated otherwise because that's how language works in polite society. "I like green" is the same.

"My cat weighs 9.5 lbs" is only true within a context of a particular moment and location and measurement apparatus and understanding of cat and ownership and 9.5 and lbs.

"1+1=2" is only true within a context of what "1" and "2" and "+" and "=" mean.

And so on.

[naasking]

This seems like a very long winded way to agree with my statement that opinions can only be considered facts when modelled as time series data.

[shakna]

The catch-all is a problem. We've been studying fallacies in arguments since before the time of Plato, and do not have a complete answer that always works, to prevent the logical failure.

Complex assertions and compounding arguments, can still result in circular reasoning - the petitio principii, or worse.

Most LLMs are guided by strong statements like it must do this or that. Which assumes that it won't apply the fallacy of accident, even though people regularly do. (Don't agree? Argue a definition with a BA for a day and come back to me.)