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> It's as stupid of a concept as a corporation having an opinion.. opinions are reserved for PEOPLE and I have no idea how you could come up with an argument to

> It's as stupid of a concept as a corporation having an opinion.. opinions are reserved for PEOPLE and I have no idea how you could come up with an argument to change my mind on that. I guess I don’t understand your point here unless we’re being ultra-literal and saying a corporation can’t have an opinion because it doesn’t have a physical brain developing individual thought. An example of “corporate opinion” off the top of my head: Facebook is in favour of advertising. I guess it's just a shorthand for "the executive board and shareholders of Facebook share the collective view that advertising is good" but I don't think anyone is particularly confused about what is meant when someone says Facebook is favour of something.

ipaddr 3y ago
Facebook is made up of many parts. Some parts find advertising to be directly opposite of their goals. The react team may not like ads being force in their docs for example. If own shares through a pension I may not like advertising. The CEO decides who manages which roles and divides authority. Opinions comes from these power structures. They could be divided on issues or unified. They speak for the company. Google is so big you often have conflicting goals from different power structures.
- afavour 3y ago
  > Google is so big you often have conflicting goals from different power structures. In that situation I'd say Google is conflicted on the topic. It's still not all that different from a human being, IMO, I can be internally conflicted on a topic and find it difficult to find an opinion that encompasses all of my thoughts. I get that it's shorthand and euphemism but I don't think it's all that confusing.
evandale 3y ago
> because it doesn’t have a physical brain developing individual thought. You summed up my point with a single sentence I can agree with, can't argue there! In your scenario what's the opinion Facebook has about advertising? I'm in favour of more bike lanes in my city but I don't consider that an opinion. Describing _why_ I'm in favour has an element of opinion but voting yes/no is not an opinion to me. Plus, any old why isn't good enough for an opinion. For instance, if Facebook says they're in favour of advertising because it helps them make money then I don't think I can consider that an opinion. I suppose corporate slogans and mission statements are opinions (We believe the customer is always right) but it's hard for me to call that an opinion because are your values actually opinions? I would say that they can be formed using opinions but I would be reluctant to say they're opinions themselves because of the "strength" of them I guess?
- emodendroket 3y ago
  Your conception of what constitutes an “opinion” is different than any other one I’ve ever encountered.
  - evandale 3y ago
    What's your conception of an opinion? To me am opinion is a belief you have that's not based on facts. Why do you want your government to have a belief not based on facts? Furthermore, why would you want the government to push this belief on its people? Lastly why would you care about the opinion (remember: an opinion is a belief that isn't based on facts) of a corporation to the point that you'd defend their right to make statements that aren't factual?
    - afavour 3y ago
      > To me am opinion is a belief you have that's not based on facts. > Why do you want your government to have a belief not based on facts? There's some kind of fallacy at work here, you're establishing what your personal definition of something is then arguing with OP while taking your personal belief as fact. "Opinions are not based on facts" definitely isn't a universally accepted definition of an opinion. An opinion doesn't have to be based on facts but it's not precluded from it.
      - evandale 3y ago
        If there is a fallacy then you need tell me your definition of an opinion or the widely accepted definition. I can work with you if we have a common understanding but we're not at that point yet.
        afavour 3y ago
        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opinion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opinion https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/opinion https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/opini... https://www.dictionary.com/browse/opinion https://www.dictionary.com/browse/opinion
evandale 3y ago
If anyone reads this thread please see this comment: parent is not even trying to argue in good faith. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36621860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36621860
- afavour 3y ago
  Good grief, man.
  - evandale 3y ago
    Can you answer any of my questions? I think they are all pretty straightforward.

ipaddr 3y ago

Facebook is made up of many parts. Some parts find advertising to be directly opposite of their goals. The react team may not like ads being force in their docs for example. If own shares through a pension I may not like advertising. The CEO decides who manages which roles and divides authority. Opinions comes from these power structures. They could be divided on issues or unified. They speak for the company. Google is so big you often have conflicting goals from different power structures.

afavour 3y ago
> Google is so big you often have conflicting goals from different power structures. In that situation I'd say Google is conflicted on the topic. It's still not all that different from a human being, IMO, I can be internally conflicted on a topic and find it difficult to find an opinion that encompasses all of my thoughts. I get that it's shorthand and euphemism but I don't think it's all that confusing.

evandale 3y ago

> because it doesn’t have a physical brain developing individual thought. You summed up my point with a single sentence I can agree with, can't argue there! In your scenario what's the opinion Facebook has about advertising? I'm in favour of more bike lanes in my city but I don't consider that an opinion. Describing _why_ I'm in favour has an element of opinion but voting yes/no is not an opinion to me. Plus, any old why isn't good enough for an opinion. For instance, if Facebook says they're in favour of advertising because it helps them make money then I don't think I can consider that an opinion. I suppose corporate slogans and mission statements are opinions (We believe the customer is always right) but it's hard for me to call that an opinion because are your values actually opinions? I would say that they can be formed using opinions but I would be reluctant to say they're opinions themselves because of the "strength" of them I guess?

emodendroket 3y ago
Your conception of what constitutes an “opinion” is different than any other one I’ve ever encountered.
- evandale 3y ago
  What's your conception of an opinion? To me am opinion is a belief you have that's not based on facts. Why do you want your government to have a belief not based on facts? Furthermore, why would you want the government to push this belief on its people? Lastly why would you care about the opinion (remember: an opinion is a belief that isn't based on facts) of a corporation to the point that you'd defend their right to make statements that aren't factual?
  - afavour 3y ago
    > To me am opinion is a belief you have that's not based on facts. > Why do you want your government to have a belief not based on facts? There's some kind of fallacy at work here, you're establishing what your personal definition of something is then arguing with OP while taking your personal belief as fact. "Opinions are not based on facts" definitely isn't a universally accepted definition of an opinion. An opinion doesn't have to be based on facts but it's not precluded from it.
    - evandale 3y ago
      If there is a fallacy then you need tell me your definition of an opinion or the widely accepted definition. I can work with you if we have a common understanding but we're not at that point yet.
      - afavour 3y ago
        https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opinion https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opinion https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/opinion https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/opini... https://www.dictionary.com/browse/opinion https://www.dictionary.com/browse/opinion

evandale 3y ago

If anyone reads this thread please see this comment: parent is not even trying to argue in good faith. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36621860 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36621860

afavour 3y ago
Good grief, man.
- evandale 3y ago
  Can you answer any of my questions? I think they are all pretty straightforward.