I Don't Know, But I Do Have An Opinion

I caught myself saying that during a conversation at dinner tonight.  I don't even remember what the question was because as soon as the words came out of my mouth I was too busy reflecting on what I'd just said.

If I don't know something, how do I possess enough information to have a reasonable opinion?  Isn't that just like saying, "I haven't a clue, but I'll tell you my uninformed opinion as though it were confirmed fact."  And yet that's what people, including me, do all the time.   It reminds me of a Robert Heinlein quote I think of from time to time when I catch myself stating that I absolutely, positively know something:

We define thinking as integrating data and arriving at correct answers.  Look around you.  Most people do that stunt just well enough to get to the corner store and back without breaking a leg.  If the average man thinks at all, he does silly things like generalizing from a single datum.  He uses one-valued logics. 

I think of this quote when I catch myself, usually in the middle of defending my "factual opinion," trying to remember where I heard that piece of information.  Was it a reliable source?  Was it gossip that someone told me they saw on a television show?  Did I know this "fact" I was discussing at length from reasonable research from reliable sources, or did my side of the argument just sound better to me?

Over the years I have realized so many times that the ubiquitous "they" as in, "they say..." isn't usually or even frequently correct.  In my struggle to improve myself, this is one of the things I continue to work on.  It's a slippery slope I slide back down on a regular basis.

The Big Boy Update:   Blowing Bubbles.  We took him to the pool today and I spoke with a gentleman about getting a few swimming lessons for my son so we could make sure we were starting off right to keep him loving the water.  He said the first lessons are to help the parents know what to do and not do to encourage a toddler.  My mother-in-law tried to teach him to blow bubbles under water after that and he had a splendid time puttering around in the pool and making flubbing, spitting, burbling noises into the water.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Standing up in the crib, and on the ottoman, and pulling up, and cruising. All in one day.  I came upstairs yesterday morning and she was standing up in the crib.  So the crib platform got lowered later that afternoon.  She spent lots of time pulling up, sometimes by herself and sometimes with help to a standing position on the ottoman and then stood there for a long time and even tried to move sideways with small steps.  What's next week, cartwheels?

Running Update:  Four on the Fourth.  I'm running in a four mile race tomorrow on the Fourth of July.  I won't be racing, but I will be trying to run at a faster pace than I normally run.  My friend who got me started running will be in the race too.  My first race.  It should be fun.  And hot.