Opinions

Opinions are incredibly important.  The most important opinion is your own.  Your own opinion can and most often is plural.  A plural opinion is comprised of thoughts which may be contradictory.  People often have inflated or depleated opinions.  The path to enlightenment is balancing our opinions to be clear, concise and coherent.

Other peoples opinions are also incredibly importat.  The opinion of your employer or clients about you is importat, so too is that of your spouse.  If either had a dissenting opinion you might loose your job or spouse.  People are friends with you because it is their opinion they like you.  People express their opinion in the stores they frequent, the products they use.

Some opinions don't matter.  Monday morning quarterbacks or any commentators on sports are a perfect example of meaningless opinions.  Bizzarly many people are of the opinion that those opinions matter - too bad for them.

Some opinions are destructive.  Opinions of township supervisiors and city planners create the sub-urban distopioa we have in the United States.  The once intelligently designed boroughs and towns are becoming sprawls of impersonal dimension.

How can we encourage people to have meaningful opinions?  Our schools and universities are not devoted to creating an enlightened society.  If we are to be the enlightened society our framers imagined we must encourage teaching the wisdom of virtues, liberty and independence.  Otherwise, those who are educated are ignorant.