Urstadt

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I have taken note (literally) of them. This is something I have been contemplating for some time now. It seems to me that the more I know, the greater my responsibility to be silent. This connects well with zil's comment about active silence being a virtue. Also, I really liked Traveler's comment about people who refuse to accept truth: "Correct a wise person and they will thank you for it; correct a fool and they will hate you for it." "When the truth walks away, everybody stays." It just isn't worth it: "The lion does not lose sleep over the opinion of sheep."
Sometimes, it is so difficult to watch others, or large groups of people, proceed with their lives for days/weeks on end at a time while knowing that the entire ideology underpinning their way of life/career philosophy is so completely impoverished, ill-informed, or just downright wrong.

It is harder to "put yourself out there" in today's world.  We are ruled by the inane "political correctness" idiocy that plagues our society.  
I think I will start calling my Doberman a "Doberperson"

Sometimes logic is so far from the discussion and personal opinion so far from the mark it is obvious that someone has not done their homework and is offended by simple truth.  Example,  someone(s) is having trouble trying to get some electrical device to work.  You can feel the anger in their 4 letter words.  So you walk up, tap someone on the shoulder and say, "Maybe if you plugged it in."  Oddly enough the longer they have thought their anger at the device was justified (something is wrong with it) - the more they will hate you for telling them the answer is pilot error. And if it has anything to do with religion or politics - not only will they hate you but they will not believe it.  Even if it is the bright sun of noon day - they will say it is night.
 
The Traveler

1. I'm more interested in what other people are saying than anything I have to say.
2. I feel like the others know more about the subject than I do so I listen to learn.
3. I think saying something would lead to an argument I don't have energy for that will change nobody's mind.

'tis better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. if something starts feeling argumentive i leave the thread... i generally also want to be able to say something that has value and can be understood.

1) So you can hear other people.
2) So you are pleasant to be around and not disruptive.
3) It would become too exhausting if you continually produced sound.

I agree with @NeedleinA, especially for situations which seem to require choosing sides.
Church: I think people fear man more than God.  (Didn't study the lesson ahead of time, are afraid of what their classmates will think of them, are afraid to be wrong, are afraid that if they speak the idea in their head, they'll be one step closer to having to commit to changing their life accordingly, etc.)
In social situations, I have to wonder if it isn't because our culture has been severely damaged by technology.  We have become passive consumers of entertainment, which now gets "pushed" to us in 140 characters or less, or in the form of video / audio.  A great many of us have lost the ability to concentrate for long periods, to actively engage in constructive activities, to commit to the sort of long-term activities which lead to deeper thought, and more engaging conversation.  But that's just my suspicion.
For myself, most of the conversations I hear are shallow and don't interest me or I have no experience in the area (e.g. kids, their schools, their teachers, their friends; shoes, makeup, hairstyles, blah blah blah), so I simply have nothing to say on the topic.  The topics I'm interested will require an intense 2-hour conversation and I literally do not know a single person who is interested in committing to a 2-hour conversation on a single topic (well, my dad, but it would have to be in person, and that's maybe once a year).  So I've got nothing to say.

This is an active silence - a virtue if ever there was one.  Unfortunately, many are still in oblivious-silence mode (definitely not a virtue).

I remain silent 99% of the time.  I fear others and their reactions even when I believe most people have good intentions.  It's something I'm working on.  I've been reading this site for many years and never posted anything until this year.  I've had some or all of the thoughts mentioned above.  All that being said, here I am stepping out of my comfort zone to give my thoughts.

http://dilbert.com/strip/2016-07-15
http://dilbert.com/strip/2016-07-16
 

Large context: church, meetings, shooting the bull in social circles, work, bowling with friends, social gatherings on Sunday.
We could also add: "What are great reasons to be silent?"

I was wondering what all y'all's thoughts are on this: why are people silent significantly more often than not?
To be clear, I am not asking about why the average person chooses to be silent from time to time. I am asking your thoughts about why people are silent the vast majority of the time.
Thank you.

Silence is non-committal, the moment you voice your opinion in most cases you step across that line from observer to being "involved". 
Being involved takes time, effort, brain power, risk and can take you out of your secure comfort zone. There are many folks that simply don't want to commit those kind of resources, are too busy with their own immediate lives, scared or are plain lazy. 
My 2 cents... 
p.s. I just chose to not be silent, so I responded to your post
 

Grats!!!!

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

Congratulations on your eternal commitment!

Congratulations to you and your family!  Now your marriage is more than just a hope and a prayer, it is an eternal commitment!

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

My wife, a recent convert to the church, and I were sealed today to each other and to our 4-month old son. She was still a recent convert when we were married in 2013, so after prayerful consideration, we decided on a civil wedding. 22 months later now, the eternal marriage is complete.
I love the gospel so much. The beauty and truthfulness of the gospel serves as protection to us in such a polarized world. I am grateful for the guidance and protection the gospel and Priesthood authority provides us, both temporally and eternally.
I just wanted to share something positive and testimonial on here. Thank you for the opportunity to share it.

I had a one year civil marriage before my wife and I were sealed one year later in the Salt Lake Temple. After the sealing I felt the LORD in our marriage more. That was a little over 13 years ago. Hopefully we will be one of those who make it.
Congratulations!

Way to go!

Awesome and Very Nice !!! Congrats