Probably this isn’t the exclusive reason, but typically I use “I think” whenever I want to rule out the interpretation that I am implying we all agree on my claim. If I say “It was a mistake for you to paint this room yellow” this is more natural if you agree with me; if I say “I think it was a mistake for you to paint this room yellow” this is more natural if I’m informing you of my opinion but I expect you to disagree.
This is not a universal rule, and fwiw I do think there’s something good about clear and simple writing that cuts out all the probably-unnecessary qualifiers, but I think this is a common case where I find it worth adding it in.
Hmm, my usage seems more like: “I think that…” means the reader/listener might disagree with me, because maybe I’m wrong and the reader is right. (Or maybe it’s subjective.) Meanwhile, “I claim that…” also means the reader might disagree with me, but if they do, it’s only because I haven’t explained myself (yet), and the reader will sooner or later come to see that I’m totally right. So “I think” really is pretty centrally about confidence levels. I think :)
I think of “It seems” as coming from the view from nowhere. I say “It seems to me” to own it, unless I mean to make the active claim that I believe it will seem this way to everyone.
“Arguably” feels super weak to me. I would only use it if I actively wanted to distance myself from a view. Almost anything is ‘arguable’ in principle.
Probably this isn’t the exclusive reason, but typically I use “I think” whenever I want to rule out the interpretation that I am implying we all agree on my claim. If I say “It was a mistake for you to paint this room yellow” this is more natural if you agree with me; if I say “I think it was a mistake for you to paint this room yellow” this is more natural if I’m informing you of my opinion but I expect you to disagree.
This is not a universal rule, and fwiw I do think there’s something good about clear and simple writing that cuts out all the probably-unnecessary qualifiers, but I think this is a common case where I find it worth adding it in.
Hmm, my usage seems more like: “I think that…” means the reader/listener might disagree with me, because maybe I’m wrong and the reader is right. (Or maybe it’s subjective.) Meanwhile, “I claim that…” also means the reader might disagree with me, but if they do, it’s only because I haven’t explained myself (yet), and the reader will sooner or later come to see that I’m totally right. So “I think” really is pretty centrally about confidence levels. I think :)
By the way, “It seems” and “arguably” seem a bit less defensive than “I think” (which is purely subjective). Arguably.
I think of “It seems” as coming from the view from nowhere. I say “It seems to me” to own it, unless I mean to make the active claim that I believe it will seem this way to everyone.
“Arguably” feels super weak to me. I would only use it if I actively wanted to distance myself from a view. Almost anything is ‘arguable’ in principle.