This is a very complicated question. From a very traditional standpoint you could say that a fact is something that is objectively true and that does not alter depending on the perspective or perception of the person observing it.
For example you could say today is Friday, the leaf is green or 2 plus 2 equals four. An opinion is where someone puts his or her perspective into the picture. Thank goodness it is Friday, I like Friday because it is nearly the weekend. I like a particular TV show, or I think it is hot outside.
Now the difficulty arises when you get to a point where there is a grey area. A position where it could be considered fact but that is dependent upon the person's perspective. It is Friday here, but in Australia it might already be Saturday for example. So facts have to be specific to time and place often and even better if they include some sort of measure. For example, rather than saying it is hot - which is definitely a matter of opinion, what may be hot to someone from Alaska may not be to someone from Mumbai; you can say it is 32 degrees C. This is harder to disprove, but again a thermometer can be inaccurate and temperature can differ from moment to moment.
So it is hard to really pin down a fact that is 100% accurate, it can only really be so for a limited time in a limited location. The Buddhist principle of impermanence neatly talks about this by saying that nothing is ever really lasting so it is hard to really get to truth.
For example you could say today is Friday, the leaf is green or 2 plus 2 equals four. An opinion is where someone puts his or her perspective into the picture. Thank goodness it is Friday, I like Friday because it is nearly the weekend. I like a particular TV show, or I think it is hot outside.
Now the difficulty arises when you get to a point where there is a grey area. A position where it could be considered fact but that is dependent upon the person's perspective. It is Friday here, but in Australia it might already be Saturday for example. So facts have to be specific to time and place often and even better if they include some sort of measure. For example, rather than saying it is hot - which is definitely a matter of opinion, what may be hot to someone from Alaska may not be to someone from Mumbai; you can say it is 32 degrees C. This is harder to disprove, but again a thermometer can be inaccurate and temperature can differ from moment to moment.
So it is hard to really pin down a fact that is 100% accurate, it can only really be so for a limited time in a limited location. The Buddhist principle of impermanence neatly talks about this by saying that nothing is ever really lasting so it is hard to really get to truth.
