Open mindedness

[freetibet]

I think the majority of people on this site, and the world in general, have a problem with being open minded. Most people get an idea of what their beliefs will be during their teens, and hold to that for the rest of their lives.

Whether you are Christian, atheist, buddhist, agnostic, conservative, liberal, communist, capitalist, or anything else like that, chances are you aren't very open minded to other beliefs.

Being open minded leaves you vulnerable, and responding in a hostile fashion is as natural as flinching when someone pretends to hit you. So you really need to force yourself to open up to other beliefs. If your a christian, try opening your mind to an atheist way of thinking. If you are a liberal, try and see the benefits of conservatism. If you are a capitalist, try thinking like a communist for a day.

If we can all train ourselves to be open minded, and fight that hostility reflex, I believe the world will be a better place.

edit*
to quote the dalai lama on this...

"seeing someone else as an enemy always stems from the imagination. And in Buddhist terms, it is considered artificial and fabricated in contrast to what exists naturally, a thought arises, one thinks it is true, one gives it great importance, one builds a plan on that basis and one implements the plan without considering the suffering that one is thereby inflicting on other people."

[2zigzags]

yeah your right, no need to be an asshole to ppl cause they beleive something diffrnt. learn about what they think, knowledge is a great thing. but if their closed minded assholes, well thats y god made liquid drano blow cars up, with no evidence. woo hoo

[cstrikehero]

I have no problem with other ways of thinking, just dont expect me to change... My goal in life is to try to spread my way of thinking, but if youve heard what i have to say, and still dont believe it, thats you problem and im fine with it.. just because your differnt dosent make you a bad person, sorry if i can across as ignorant in that other thread ;)

[A Deo et Rege]

A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.
-Chinese Proverb

In other words, arguing with a close-minded person is like arguing with a block of wood; no matter what you say it will always be a block of wood. I, for one, believe close-mindedness is like a disease; that if left unchecked it will always lead to conflict which ultimately leads to pain and suffering. I would even go so far as to say that grouping individual fields of thought into categories is in itself close-minded. Instead we should not concentrate on the individual fields of thought, but the knowledge they contain as a whole. They all contain pieces of the puzzle that is our universe, and if we continue to be close-minded we will never see the entire picture. We must keep an open mind to all that we encounter because once we close our minds we become blind to the truth.

[itismesaj]

I tend to take Socrates' point of view on this issue. That is, if you think you are right, defend yourself. However, once you have been proven wrong, immediately drop your beliefs and accept the truth.

[freetibet]

I tend to take Socrates' point of view on this issue. That is, if you think you are right, defend yourself. However, once you have been proven wrong, immediately drop your beliefs and accept the truth.

You need to make sure you don't just start considering the other side after being proved wrong. Some things must be approached with an open mind for the proof to even be presented.

[itismesaj]

Socrates argued that you can't be completely open-minded. Otherwise, you would have no basis to form conclusions. What you are suggesting would make it impossible to form conclusions, which means that you would learn nothing.

[freetibet]

Socrates argued that you can't be completely open-minded. Otherwise, you would have no basis to form conclusions. What you are suggesting would make it impossible to form conclusions, which means that you would learn nothing.

I'm not saying you should never come to a conclusion...

I'm saying that if someone says something like "if you meditate it will relax you" or "if you pray you can feel god's presence" you can't go into a thing like that thinking of nothing but you predetermined conclusion.

basically... you should always be open to the fact that you might be wrong

[exial]

I think the majority of people on this site, and the world in general, have a problem with being open minded.

I agree dude. Everyone needs to understand that this site runs on open ideas, and untold beliefs that might sometimes make you look a tad misled, ignorant, or intelligent. I believe in equality and i see now what this site is becoming. A fucking hierarchy.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I kind of agree with the Socratic theory as well; for example, I consider religion a psychological disorder and I'll make every attempt to break an argument against that point, but if god walked up to me and turned a car to stone I wouldn't push it at all :eek:.

Yes, I realize that it would take a complete dickhead to think otherwise, but that was an extreme example. More applicably: I think cloning is moral, and I will defend that, but if I am presented with an objective study detailing the cultural and environmental repercussions of cloning in a negative light, I would probably change my mind.

[freetibet]

I kind of agree with the Socratic theory as well; for example, I consider religion a psychological disorder and I'll make every attempt to break an argument against that point, but if god walked up to me and turned a car to stone I wouldn't push it at all :eek:.

I don't think considering someone's opinion a psychological disorder is very open minded...

You need to be able to genuinely consider the other person's perspective. If you treat their perspective like a mental disorder though, then you prevent yourself from truly knowing whether they are right or wrong.

[hatecrew]

I wouldn't think that someone like you would be on this site. You're promoting peace among many people who generally go with chaos. I'm with you though. My mind has opened greatly from when I was a young kid. I see everyone as equals, at first. i mean you can't even argue that there aren't people who piss the hell out of you and you automatically just regard as lesser assholes. it's human nature to do so. As much as you fight it, it's almost inevitable. I stopped coming to this site for a while just because so many people are blatant assholes without even being provoked. I know that there are some people in particular on this site who probably hate me. i don't know what I did.

Promoting peace is always good. unfortunately as long as there are humans on this planet, I do not believe there will be peace.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I don't think considering someone's opinion a psychological disorder is very open minded...

You need to be able to genuinely consider the other person's perspective. If you treat their perspective like a mental disorder though, then you prevent yourself from truly knowing whether they are right or wrong.

If you consider any opinion close-minded, by definition you consider all opinions close-minded. I am not in any way connected to the theory of religious faith as a disorder, except by what I have seen and felt in this world. In other words, if you present irrevocable evidence that believing in religion is the behavior of a realistic person, I will concede the point. Until then, it is my opinion. It was a bad example anyway, it is only one of many opinions I hold. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to consider yours.

[freetibet]

If you consider any opinion close-minded, by definition you consider all opinions close-minded.

umm... no

Your opinion is that God does not exist, I respect that and am willing to consider it.

My opinion is that God does exist, you don't respect that and think I have a mental disorder for believing in God.

I respect your opinion, I'm just saying your not respecting theist's opinions.

The opinion itself is not close minded, but you are.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Did I ever say that I didn't respect your opinion? I see it as a valid worldview, especially as such a high percentage of the population is possessed of it. In fact, you've convinced me to slightly alter my worldview; having reflected on the population demographics, I have redefined my definition of normal human; I think that you and I are different in that to you, I have the psychological disorder, whereas to me, it's the other way around. Atheists and theists are on different wavelengths of reality, that's why we don't see eye to eye.

[Phoenix Fire]

Freetibet, all you do is argue and call people wrong, and then you make this thread...

Fuck.

[freetibet]

@phoenixfire
This thread is about being open-minded.

Being open minded and having an opinion are not mutually exclusive.

Did I ever say that I didn't respect your opinion? I see it as a valid worldview, especially as such a high percentage of the population is possessed of it. In fact, you've convinced me to slightly alter my worldview; having reflected on the population demographics, I have redefined my definition of normal human; I think that you and I are different in that to you, I have the psychological disorder, whereas to me, it's the other way around. Atheists and theists are on different wavelengths of reality, that's why we don't see eye to eye.

Well you said my opinion is a mental disorder. That isn't very respectful...

I don't think you have a psychological disorder. I think you are either misguided, scared by the concept of the infinite, or I am wrong and should become an atheist.

Anyone can see eye to eye if both parties are willing. You just have to be open about what you believe and be willing to try and see things from the other person's point of view. So try and imagine you are a theist, and that someone you have never met tells you that your opinion is not only wrong, it is a sign of retardation. How would that make you feel?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Point conceded. I'm in no mood to go through this argument right now.

[freetibet]

its not an argument, its a debate ;)

[cstrikehero]

LOL..(btw i really hate this letter limit it really sucks so do you think this post is long enough, i dont think so, man whoever made up this rule is kinda wierd.. anyway how bout them gas prices? outragous aint they? i heard in serbia it was 80 cents a gallon!! wow thats cheap in my home town its was up to four dollars for deisel last summer when i sunk our jetskin in the bottom of the lak, we tried to find it but we couldnt..)**GASP**( ok nvm)

[itismesaj]

I'm not saying you should never come to a conclusion...

I'm saying that if someone says something like "if you meditate it will relax you" or "if you pray you can feel god's presence" you can't go into a thing like that thinking of nothing but you predetermined conclusion.

basically... you should always be open to the fact that you might be wrong
Socrates said you could be wrong! But, until you are proven wrong, you shouldn't just give up your ideals. Those are your conclusions on life. If you don't have any conclusions, then you don't know anything. You just go with the flow. However, if you have conclusions already and someone proves them wrong, you can change them and learn more. See?

[freetibet]

Socrates said you could be wrong! But, until you are proven wrong, you shouldn't just give up your ideals. Those are your conclusions on life. If you don't have any conclusions, then you don't know anything. You just go with the flow. However, if you have conclusions already and someone proves them wrong, you can change them and learn more. See?

Well you don't have to be opinionless on the matter. You just have to give the other side a chance.

It's about having an open mind, not a blank one lol

[itismesaj]

OH. MY. GOD. What are you arguing? You contradict yourself all over the place. First you claim that people must go into an ordeal not favoring anything. And now you claim that you can have an opinion on things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but those two statements contradict each other.

Clearly Socrates' formula provides for the advancement of knowledge, which is what an open mind is used for. Socrates gives you the chance to form conclusions on which to base your assumptions on, with the chance that they may change when new informations is presented.

Socrates: 1. freetibet: 0.

[freetibet]

OH. MY. GOD. What are you arguing? You contradict yourself all over the place. First you claim that people must go into an ordeal not favoring anything. And now you claim that you can have an opinion on things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but those two statements contradict each other.

Clearly Socrates' formula provides for the advancement of knowledge, which is what an open mind is used for. Socrates gives you the chance to form conclusions on which to base your assumptions on, with the chance that they may change when new informations is presented.

Socrates: 1. freetibet: 0.

All i'm saying is you need to be open to the fact that you might be wrong. Like if someone shows you that you're wrong, you should accept it. I'm not saying you should never develop an opinion, and i'm not saying you should be completely entrenched in your way of thought either.

I'm not arguing anything I'm just saying people need to be open to other possibilities.

and socrates was smarter than i am i don't need a scoreboard to tell me that lol

[testtubebaby]

I have no problem with other ways of thinking, just dont expect me to change... My goal in life is to try to spread my way of thinking, but if youve heard what i have to say, and still dont believe it, thats you problem and im fine with it.. just because your differnt dosent make you a bad person, sorry if i can across as ignorant in that other thread ;)



i kind of agree with u, but with me its got to work both ways, i was told and with very wise words that you never push anything you have to say unless uve heard all the other person has to say. or soemthing like that. like if a nazi preaches white power and down with jews and catholics i dont turn him down based on that, but based on his reason why he says down with jews and catholics. or a black man saying down with white men and the government, i cant say fuck u because im white and he says down with me, but why he says down with me. if his reasons flawed or just plain stupid than thats where i step in to smash him with the mighty hammer that is my beliefs :)