Opinion and Belief

Opinions and beliefs are very similar. Because of this, some people don't understand the difference between an opinion and a belief. When you have an opinion about something, you feel a certain way about something. When you believe something, you think that something exists or a state exists. Knowing the difference is important because when people treat beliefs like opinions people tend to do two things. The first is that they discard the consequences of the possibility that the belief is right. The second is that they overlook possible solutions that can be found by addressing the beliefs underlying an opinion.

If I say that I like Linux, it is an opinion. If I say that despite the fact that I like Linux, Microsoft Windows is currently the better operating system for desktops, that is a belief. People can try Linux and Windows for themselves and if they can do the things they want to do easier in Linux than Windows then Linux is the better operating system. "Linux is the better operating system," says something about the operating system. "I like Windows," says