Controversy's a state of prolonged public dispute or debate usually concerning a matter of opinion. The term originates circa 1384 from Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus - "turned in an opposite direction," from contra - "against" - and vertere - to turn, or versus (see verse), hence, "to turn against." Benford's law of controversy, as expressed by science-fiction author Gregory Benford in 1980, states: "Passion's inversely proportional to the amount of real (true) information… (More on Controversies)