While “strong opinion weakly held” is more traditional and widespread, I prefer replacing “strong” with “clear,” since it points more crisply at the relevant feature.
Is that the relevant feature? If we disagree about that, then this phrase is not itself a clear opinion. The original version was extreme, which is how I always understood it.
What do you mean by “clear”? As I understand it, the point is to be clear about some thing and not clear about others — in particular, not to clearly state all disclaimers.
Added: the modern origin gives an explanation that might fit the word zealous. He emphasizes the energy and commitment necessary to test the claims.
“Strong opinion loosely held”.
I didn’t know about the experiment, I’m glad to hear that they decided to show it anyway.
While “strong opinion weakly held” is more traditional and widespread, I prefer replacing “strong” with “clear,” since it points more crisply at the relevant feature.
Is that the relevant feature? If we disagree about that, then this phrase is not itself a clear opinion. The original version was extreme, which is how I always understood it.
What do you mean by “clear”? As I understand it, the point is to be clear about some thing and not clear about others — in particular, not to clearly state all disclaimers.
Added: the modern origin gives an explanation that might fit the word zealous. He emphasizes the energy and commitment necessary to test the claims.