[Malleus Dei]

Originally posted by GForce22
I guess I find it odd that a statement by a person saying they like something (since that person obviously knows their feelings better than others) can be thought of as an opinion, yet a conclusion brought about by data presented by someone else (such as the James data instance) is something more than an opinion.

We are ambling into metaphysics here and the nature of objectivity versus subjectivity. But bear in mind that baseball data, unlike virtually all of the rest of life, is both real and unambiguous. If real, unambigous and correct data is used in a valid model, then you get an objective result, and that's just how a lot of science and engineering (and sabremterics) is done.

And, if someone saying they definitively like something is still just an opinion, isn't somebody saying they believe a formula/analysis to be a valid measure of something (such as your apparent belief that James' analysis is a valid tool) be an opinion too. In essence, aren't you saying you like James' method of evaluating managers? How is that different than someone saying they like a milkshake?

The validity and accuracy of an objective model should have nothing to do with whether you like it or not (I don't like Win Shares, but it appears damnably valid). Validity and accuracy can be determined objectively. An opinion about whether you like something or not, on the other hand, is subjective.

"It's valid" does not equal "I like it."

Originally posted by GForce22
As an aside, as for the Jesuits/research comment you made earlier, if someone says they like something they really don't, that seems to be a lie, not an opinion.

A statement can be false but not a lie if the person making it believes it to be true. Consider someone suffering from delusion; if John Doe really believes that he is Napoleon Bonaparte, when he tells you that he is the Emperor, he isn't lying, just making a false statement unknowingly. Consider an ignorant person, who states that Colorado borders on California because he believes it; again, a false statement but not a lie. Consider my best friend, who tells women that he is looking for a wife - and honestly believes it - when every action he takes says otherwise. Consider my sister, who is firmly convinced that she does not believe in the supernatural, but who is spooked easily. Are any of them lying? Not one of them is making a statement that they believe to be false.