Opinions cannot survive if they cannot be defended. – Thomas Mann.
The only defensible opinions I have are defended to the walls. Sometimes the echo of my own voice in the darkness is hollow and indefensible but usually it is just empty.How can opinions be tested in solitude?
Surely they are well formed in solitude, but tested? No. A single individual can never see things from all sides, will always miss something. Every time I try to edit my own work I miss something. Even when I leave it off and return days later, I find more errors and omissions. An opinion cannot be tested in solitude.
If an opinion cannot be tested, how can an individual’s opinions, moral fortitude and character evolve and grow? Is it truly possible to grow alone? Doesn’t the hermit need to come down from her mountain at some time and test the conclusions of her meditations?
All evidence that I have seen points to the idea that we are social creatures. We need to be touched, we need to communicate, we need to interact with other human beings. So why is it so tiresome and unfulfilling?
Perhaps I have not spent enough time on the mountain. Then again, maybe I'm only fooling myself to make believe I am on a mountain when in fact I am in denial... drowning in deNile. Maybe I'm still sitting and waiting in the place I wanted him to be and have just given up on love, on passion, on lust for life.
Have I gone so far from love that I have forgotten how? Is it really over for me? And again, how do I test these opinions?
Maybe, if you're still asking the questions, you haven't formed a solid opinion, yet? Maybe, you have to test the waters before you test the opinions.