I always felt it wasn't just willingness to admit that you are wrong. Its more about willingness to admit that you just don't know and perhaps nobody knows. Sometimes its accepting that there are multiple truthes or that there is none at all.
Understanding that your views,theories, beliefs, facts are not etched in stone and can be changed if shown they are wrong. Also to see things from anothers viewpoint and learn from them to make your life better and richer from what those others can teach you.Being flexible towards others and listen to others even though they may not make any sense to you, the others have as much right to their views as you do yours.
Ignorance is not the lack of knowledge. Ignorance is the lack of desire for knowledge. An open mind is receptive to different opinions and ideas. It seeks to be as objective as it can when it comes to interpreting opinions and ideas. It is not necessarily easily swayed or influenced. It is more of a characteristic of taking information without discrimination, and making a decision on it's validity without bias.
(Insert Title Here) I thank you all, and do not wish to break the discussion. However, CosmicTraveler has pinned down the crux of the issue I'm chasing: Thus, while I don't wish to stifle the general discussion in any way, to pare one part of it down: At what point are "open-minded" and "gullible" synonymous?
I'd think that one becomes "gullible" when they don't examine the facts they are presented with. Just simply saying I'll change my mind about something because another theory has been discovered that makes my understanding of the old theory would show I'm gullible if I don't ask good questions, examine the facts and try to see what others are saying about this new theory. Jumping on the bandwagon before you know where its going is a very dangerous thing, so look before you leap, that way you can check to see where you'll land.
I don't think you are qualified to give your opinion about open mind because you don't possess one. Christians can never have an open mind because no Christians would consider the possibility of being wrong about their own religion. If they do, they can't be Christians because they lack faith.
So one's lack of an open mind disqualifies them from giving their opinion about open mind? Is that the word of the Lord?
Never? Are you sure? Positive? Don't you believe in miracles? Who cannot have an open mind? By what authority? How can one be Christian without an open mind?
Religion generally involves an unswirving belief in one's god. It is supposed to be absolute and no amount of proof is supposed to be able to sway a believer away from Church dogma. It seems that it is quite easy for a Christian to not have an open mind... though I have to argue with Joeman. It is possible for a Christian to have an open mind. Just not a good christian, as in the kind that the Church wants. The same holds true for most religions.
What really gets me is that being open minded sort of means that your opinion isn't firm. If you think there may be some validity to everyone's opinion and that everyone is entitled to their opinion you cannot engage in intelligent discourse, it's like a cop-out. Obviously we shouldn't be set in stone, but we shouldn't just respect everyone's opinion and move on, whats the point? Aren't we all looking for truth in the end? Where's the dialectic?
i think that having an open mind is some kind of subjective medium between accepting other's opinions and rejecting them. i don't think there is a point in trying to draw the line because you will never find a universal line. if i were to make a guess at where that line is, i would say an open mind is where one realizes that you cannot know everything about anything. It's an obvious truth, but it applies to a lot of things. but you would think that any rational mind would already have such a humble quality that gives one an "openess".
Is ... (compassion?) ... um ... what ... oh, trust .... (Sorry, for some reason I was compelled to share that utter hitch of thought with you all.) Is trust part of an open mind? That is, can we doubt the fact without doubting the person?
That's a fine line. Somebody once said an open mind is great, but not so open that your brains fall out. Having an open mind means being willing to consider new ideas, and not rule them out immediately just because they conflict with your existing beliefs. An open mind means a willingness to change your views if you're presented with a convincing argument. The flip-side is having a healthy skepticism. That is, you don't just accept everything people tell you at face value. You check the facts. You compare multiple points of view. You don't jump to conclusions until you've considered different possibilities. And when you do reach a conclusion, you're willing to change your mind if something new comes along to convince you that your current idea is wrong.
