Why do people have opinions on things?
No, seriously, why?
I'm not talking about having opinions on big things like whether we ought to have gone to war with Iraq or whether partial-birth abortions should be legal or whether they should have banned smoking in Boston bars... I'm talking about stupid inane things that have no impact whatsoever on anything. Are humans simply hard-wired to have opinions? Is that what sentience and free will are all about?
Here's a prime example... toilet paper. Do you want it to go over the top, or underneath? Why does it matter? In the end, it comes off the roll and you can use it for its designated purpose. Frankly, as long as there is a roll there when I need it, I'm happy... but some people have strong feelings one way or the other on this issue, and I just don't get it.
Apparently, though, there is enough dissent about this issue to cause some marketing genius out there to come up with the Tilt-A-Roll, a device which allows you to have your cake and eat it too - or at least, to have your toilet paper to come from over OR under the roll at will. Is this really necessary? Are there households in which this is such a do-or-die issue that people are spending $24.95 (plus shipping and handling!) to get a reversible toilet paper dispenser?
I guess so, if they sell the darn things.
And why do we have favorite colors? What is it about sage green and periwinkle blue that makes them appeal to me so? And in that I like cool colors so much, what has compelled me to make my wedding colors all warm colors??
This could be a whole field of study. Why don't anthropologists address these questions? Did Neanderthal Man have favorite colors? I just don't know... but I can be damned sure that he didn't care about the direction of the toilet paper.
The more removed you are from the whole hunting and gathering thing, the more you will find superfluous issues to fixate upon -- like the whole toilet roll thing or even how much more wonderful your life will be with a George Foreman grill.