Well, I had the sudden urge to complain(*ahem* excuse me, I mean discuss) one of the daily things, and then I realized that I didnt see anywhere I could put such information!
Well here it is... and to start things off I wanted to disagree with something on the daily thought, but first ill repost it :

Thought of the Day[3 days]: The book 'THE Da Vinci Code' claims to be fiction but starts off the book by saying "FACT". . A fact can not be fiction and a fiction can not be fact. The writer claims to all be fiction... and even the 'facts' are false. So the Fact is fiction. Thus it is deceiving. To know whether the book is fact or fiction. Or written to confuse. One must know the Truth to compare it to. "Know the Truth and it shall set you free". So i suggest before you read the book, you know the Book.



Ok, I pretty much completely disagree with what is being said here, and I think of it as being a completely uneducated thought. And this is for a few reasons. I'll give you this, when most people think of the word fact, they affilate it with the word truth and assume that they are the same thing, but a fact ISNT NECESSARILY TRUE (caps for emphasizm, not shouting). As learned in 1st grade reading assignments dealing with the division of "Fact and Opinion", children learn that facts are facts by the form of sentence structure, and not the validity of the statement.

(2 facts and an opinion)example : OPINION: Ice cream tastes bad.
TRUE FACT: I was born in June.
FALSE FACT: Tom Cruise is pregnant with twins.

Although Tom Cruise is not pregnant with Twins, the statement is still technically a fact.


I also dissagree with the statement "Fact can not be fiction" and vice versa. I've read a books that were "fiction", but the stories in them were true, and Ive seen books that are "non-ficiton" and the stories were just made up by the author.


I am a christian, and by what I am posting Im not intending to hurt anyones feelings, or to flame whoever's thought it was.
My sister is also a christian and is reading the book right now, and I see nothing wrong with it, it is fiction, made up, and as long as the reader knows that, thats all that really matters to me. She would definately be angry if she saw this ...haha

Just be sure not to ever have a Harry Potter thought like the davinci code one, who knows what amber(sis) would do then ... XD

I don't agree with your analysis of the use of the word "fact" in this case. It is true that fact can be interpreted as a general statment that does not depend on the preference of people. On the other hand, fiction is simply something made up by someone and is not real/true/didn't happen. So, with this in mind, let's go to your example of Tom Cruise having twins. If I wrote a story where Tom Cruise was, by some horrible fluke of nature, having twins, my story would be fictional. By your definition of "fact" if my story stated "Tom Cruise is pregnant with twins", it would be a fact, despite the story being fiction.

Now, since our comparison is FACT or FICTION, the question is defined so that something can't be both at the same time. The question asks about the validity of the statement, not the sentence structure. Since fiction is just something invented in someone's mind and is not real, fact would have to be the opposite, being something true, real, and correct. This also happens to be the more common definition of FACT.

Smitenon

Now, since our comparison is FACT or FICTION, the question is defined so that something can't be both at the same time. The question asks about the validity of the statement, not the sentence structure. Since fiction is just something invented in someone's mind and is not real, fact would have to be the opposite, being something true, real, and correct. This also happens to be the more common definition of FACT.

yeaah, that made no sense. There is a reason why true books are called non-fiction instead of fact. The opposite of fiction is not fact, despite what people may say.

quote : Since fiction is just something invented in someone's mind and is not real, fact would have to be the opposite, being something true, real, and correct.

...yeah, that is stupid and I have no idea how you think fact HAS to be the opposite because fiction is not real(this philosophy doesnt make sense) ...fiction doesnt have anything related to fact.
What your saying is an OPINION (my opinion is, your opinions stupid :D)
...I would go somewhere else with this post, but im tired and lazy and dont kow what to put... ^___^

Well Mr. Open-Minded,

Since you think my opinion is stupid, you can go ahead and take it up with a dictionary.

From Mirriam-Webster Online:

Fact
1 : a thing done: as a obsolete : FEAT b : CRIME <accessory after the fact> c archaic : ACTION
2 archaic : PERFORMANCE, DOING
3 : the quality of being actual : ACTUALITY <a question of fact hinges on evidence>
4 a : something that has actual existence <space exploration is now a fact> b : an actual occurrence <prove the fact of damage>
5 : a piece of information presented as having objective reality
- in fact : in truth

1 and 2 have nothing to do with what we're talking about, while 3, 4 and 5 clearly state that fact can have the same meaning as truth.

Fiction
1 a : something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story b : fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c : a work of fiction; especially : NOVEL
2 a : an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth <a legal fiction> b : a useful illusion or pretense
3 : the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination

We see that fiction is exactly as I said before, something imagined and not real.

Oh, and by the way, books are called fiction and non-fiction for the sole reason of aesthetics, non-fiction just sounds better than fact. Non-fiction implies that the book was not invented and based on truths, while a fact book implies a book of short information that might have nothing to do with each other. The whole thing boils down to non-fiction includes everything other than fiction in the library, while fact would not include everything.

The reason i posted the idea of fact and fiction was not for the semantices... It was to only show that Mr. Dan Brown tries to persuade his audience that his book is fiction. Yet he includes real places real time and real people and real events in history... using the same name and stating a FACT about it. If you research.. which i am doing. Each of main events, places and people that coincide with the authors adventure/investigation. You will find out that most of the events and people and ideas he states as a FACT about them. Are 1) not real events 2)are slightly off 3) are extremely deceiving. He puts most of the 'facts' so close to the truth that if someone does not research the statement that they will think it is a real fact.

The point is if someone makes a book and call's it 'FICTION' yet incorperates a large amount of real names, places, events and things. People can not tell between the truth of history and the fiction of the book. This book especially is very deceiving around issues having to do with christianity and the Bible itself.

Like i said before. Make sure if you are going to read this book that you know what is a real fact.. or what is a 'fact' of the fiction itself. Also be pretty grounded in who Christ is, what He stands for, how and why the bible was written and why some books were chosen and others were not. Just please make sure you have a deep understanding of history.

Also, remember a paper that is white and a black paper can easily be distinguishable.
While a white paper and a light gray paper can not as easily identify a difference.

If a fact is drastically different than a falsehood you can tell the difference between the two and nothing can be accidentally accepted.

But if a fact and a falsehood are so close, fact can merge into a falshood and a falsehood can merge into a fact. With your eye you cant tell without deep looking between gray and white. It is the same when two things look almost the same. It takes deep looking a research to know the difference.

~Natsumi Lam~

Hehe... yeah... good point... guess I got caught up in the technical stuff.

What you are saying is very true though, the hardest deception to spot is one that imitates truth. For a new Christian, this book and now a blockbuster movie, could be a pretty big stumbling block in their walk.

So I guess the saying "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" really is true. Bottom line: Know your Bible well. Build your foundation on that rock and no storm can shake your faith.

Smitenon

I totally agree!

~Natsumi Lam~