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con·sen·sus [ k?n séns?ss ]
noun
General or widespread agreement among all the members of a group
Or from the Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (ISBN 0-679-41410-X), near the
bottom of page 289:
<quote>
1. collective judgment or belief; solidarity of opinion [...].
2. general agreement or concord; harmony.
[...]
Usage: It is a longstanding rule of usage that the expression *consensus of
opinion* is redundant and that CONSENSUS alone conveys the meaning. Although the
redundancy argument is weakened if CONSENSUS is taken in its earlier and valid
sense of "general agreement or concord," the criticism against this phrase has
been so persistent that *consensus of opinion* occurs only infrequently in
edited formal writing. The phrase *general consensus* is also objected to as
redundant.
</quote>
Perhaps you believe newsgroup posting constitutes edited formal writing?!
[You haven't had much exposure to academic literary quarrels - never rely on
authority to support your arguments because there's always a contradicting
authority that can be flung back in your face.]
I would say that their is a general agreement that 1 + 1 = 2.
...
Consensus is irrelevant. If everyone in this group were irrational and DIDN'T
agree that Excel had only 256 columns it wouldn't alter the fact that Excel has
only 256 columns. Facts are facts whether or not there's any agreement about
their veracity. The world was round even when there was a consensus (at least in
Western Europe) that it was flat.
