There is a fundamental difference between facts and opinions. Plain and simple. I see people make this mistake more often than I would like to admit. I see people talk about something they feel is right and yet they don’t have facts to back it up. Now I would be lying if I said I wasn’t guilty of this. I was called out on not having facts to backup my arguments a few years ago, and I constantly get mad at myself if I find myself in that situation now.

I recently found myself in a debate with a friend of mine. This friend was uninformed when it came to the subject we were talking about.

The argument was about the U.S. Constitution, specifically about the amendments. The main gist of the argument was that my friend was unaware that you can change amendments. He didn’t read up on his facts and was made to look like a fool because he said, “you can’t change amendments.” Though his opinion was that the government should not be able to change amendments, this doesn’t make it true.

BBC defines a fact as something that can be backed up with evidence, while an opinion is based on a belief or view and is not based on evidence.

I did not give the greatest example, but the point remains the same. Try to be as informed with facts as possible.

I also witnessed an argument between two of my peers about the fundamentals of libertarianism. The two were clearly heated about the argument and I listened further. One of them was very disgruntled, because he did not in any way agree with libertarian views but had no evidence to back up his statements. The other was much more level headed and could articulate his thoughts in a clear way, as he had facts to back up any claims he made.  

Now, this is not to say you aren’t entitled to your own opinions, but you shouldn’t use your opinions alone in debates and arguments.

When it comes to current events, people are always going to engage in debates, whether they are friendly or not, so why would you want to be uniformed or, in other words, unarmed.

To try and simplify the point even further: read the news.

Something as simple as that can inform you more than you realize, as long as the news outlet is credible.

Simply by reading the news, you can have a multitude of facts to back up any opinion you may have.

Now, I know college students are not the most eager to go read the news – let’s face it, the news can be boring and depressing sometimes – but it still doesn’t change the fact that you could use that information later on.

This applies to sports as well, you wouldn’t want to find yourself in a discussion about football and not have the right stats about certain players.

Knowing the difference between a fact and an opinion is important, and knowing where to find these facts is something people should be aware of.