Week 2, Discussion Q. 1
Subjective & Objective Claims
An objective claim is something stated that is unarguably true. So for example, "My twenty-first birthday falls on a Friday," is an objective statement. There is really no arguement that on January 20, 2012 it will be a Friday and I will be celbrating my twenty-first birthday. A subjective claim is more of an opinion that can be proven true or false depending on who is viewing it. So an example of subjective claim, also regarding my birthday, would be saying "I had the craziest Sweet 16 birthday ever," because depending on who sees/says that, that statement does not always hold true. I think subjective/objective claims are made pretty much all day, every day in life and I never really noticed the difference until now.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your comment of subjectivity when it comes to birthday parties.
I remember attending a friend’s birthday party “bash.” It started at 11:30am and ended until midnight or whenever the guests felt like leaving. I thought it would be more exciting since she was turning 18, but the guests and I basically hung around the living room to watch television and DVDs of the show House. We played a few games, such as Taboo, but we didn’t do anything more than board games and watching television. As much as I enjoy watching House, I am not the type of person that likes to hang around a couch for the whole day watching television. There were about 8-12 guests at the party and some of them seemed to enjoy being sedated, while others looked as bored as I was. The birthday girl’s opinion and my thoughts of the party were both subjective because she said her party was really exciting whereas I felt very inactive the whole day.
I have definitely heard the same type of example you mentioned here. A lot people talking to their friends will mention how much fun they had at a birthday or even just spending a night out on the town. The problem with that type of subjectivity, like you mentioned, is that you do not know why they enjoyed it. If your friends said they enjoyed dancing with friends, or seeing a movie, for instance, you would be able to grasp exactly why they had fun. It can also be purely a matter of opinion because sometimes not everyone in the crowd had as wonderful of a time as the person making this comment. I know I have been out with a group of friends before where only one person did not enjoy it. Nonetheless, they were entitled to their own opinion because everyone likes different things. I think this was a great example because I am sure everyone has heard something fairly similar to it.
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