Are You Open Minded? Take the Test!
If someone ever tells you they are, I suspect they are even more closed than most.
People love to brag about being open-minded, but I would argue that most people are not. Not at all. It may go without saying no one would ever claim to be closed-minded. For some, being open-minded is actually a part of one's identity. The person who fancies himself as an open-minded type' is sure to tell you he is, almost as sure as vegans and cross-fitters will identify themselves.
The truth is, most people's minds are so closed they can't even consider an idea they don't already believe in.
I'll take it one step further. If someone ever tells you they are a "really open-minded person," I suspect they are even more rigid in their thinking than most people.
In my junk science research on open-mindedness, it has seemed to me that the idea of being open-minded is most often associated with the acceptance of modern or progressive viewpoints. This is a flawed way to think of open-ness, whether minded or otherwise because the viewpoint itself is theoretically conclusive rather than open. What you find is that once one accepts one's progressive position, one is as rigid in their right-ness and, therefore, just as closed as their alleged closed-minded philosophical opponent.
Having an open mind does not mean one is aligned to a certain ideology in particular. Quite the opposite, actually. While you may hold to certain views, to be open-minded, you must be willing to revise your views based on new information. This is why things like science, healthcare, civil rights, and how to respond to a pandemic is a moving target. Because the person with an open mind is learning from new data as it becomes available.
This is difficult to do, especially for someone whose ideologies are tied to one's identity. We all experience this in some way in our lives. This is why policies, especially social policies, divide people. Because people's minds are closed to the things that they identify with personally, blocking them from hearing any new information.
When someone has an open mind, they are curious. They no longer have an addiction to certainty but to the journey of discovery. They value the truth more than they value their own position. They want to learn more about the foundation of their own views rather than take them for granted. They hold not to ideologies but to their principles. Their views are always evolving because they are always learning.
And that is who I am writing this blog for.