Opinions are a persons personal " guess" after hearing some of the facts
They are important and everyone should think hard enough to have an opinion IMHO but they must also have a strong basis for believing that opinion is the correct answer, if not be ready to change sides
Worked under a German engineer early on and one day said to him, what makes a good engineer? to which he said, a good guesser
He did not mean just guess anything, he was a brilliant engineer and when he guessed (had an opinion) it was based on years of experience and knowledge
Tools, facts, knowledge.
Tools are language. mathematical skills, systematic reasoning and planning, all set in stone and established
Facts, unfortunately all facts have to be carefully scrutinized, as there has been an increasing amount of detail re-written for political gain and are not facts anymore
Knowledge, is a building of information so as to arrive at the most likely conclusion, ie experience
