Opinions. I'm the kind of person who really needs to think before I speak. Sometimes that means I keep my mouth shut. Sometimes that means I Say The Wrong Thing. Sometimes I think as much as I need to think, and people start shaking me by the shoulders: "Are you OK? Are you OK? Anybody in there? Do you need help?" I went to a personality-typing class a month ago, and I found out that this is a normal thing for approximately 6% of the population. Whoo hoo! That's about 5.98% more normal than I thought I could ever be!

Anyway, one of the things I've been thinking about lately is opinions. Not any particular opinion, although I have some, but opinions in general.

How important is it to have opinions? Can you get along with the extremes of "beliefs" and "facts," simply having nothing that to debate, argue, or question? Is it important to have opinions on every damn thing, or can you form a few opinions about morals or ethics (take your pick; I think there's an difference, but it doesn't matter here), called princicples, and operate solely from them?

And how important is it to state your opinion? And how do you know when you've stated your opinion too much or too little? Is there any objective (or even subjective) way of telling, or do you just have to depend on peer feedback? Are there times when it's morally or ethically wrong or bad to keep your opinion to yourself? To speak up? And forget morals and ethics...what's the wisest way to do it? The most subtle? The cleverest?

What actually constitutes an opinion? Where do you draw the line between belief and opinion (personally, I draw a pretty close line on belief. Unless it's something you hold to be as important as the ability to breathe in normal conditions (yadda yadda yadda), gravity, etc., then it's just opinion. Looking at their actions, I'd say that for most people, religion is just an opinion. Although their faith in a god, gods, a goddess, or goddesses might be belief)? Would you die for your opinions--or just for your beliefs?

Oh, man. I had a lot more ideas than this, but I lay down with the bebe for just a moment...nap attack! Two hours later...