Have you ever read a description of you that you didn’t
think fit? A description that you probably didn’t see in yourself? Recently, I
came across a description of me that didn’t seem to fit. I was called closed
minded. Closed-minded? I have never been called that in my life. At first, I
thought “no way!” but I stopped about thought about. What if I was
closed-minded? I was curious to know if it were true, I polled my family and
friends and ask what word or phrase they would use to describe me? Because if I
am closed-minded, I wanted to change. However, no one said close-minded. What
does it mean to be closed-minded? What does it mean to be open-minded? Are
there situations when being closed-minded is preferable?
Being closed minded is defined as unwilling to consider
different ideas or opinions. Billionaire Ray Dalio explains it better in his
book, Principles. Someone who is
closed minded blocks others from speaking, lacks a deep sense of humility and
doesn’t like their ideas to be challenged. I would say “who doesn’t?” but the
difference is a closed-minded person would go on the defensive and an
open-minded person would do further investigation. A closed minded person
rarely asks questions and usually speaks in statements and focuses on being
understood rather than on understanding. He or she holds closely to what he or
she believes and isn’t willing to change and has more interest in being proven
right than hearing other perspectives. A closed-minded person has trouble
having two conflicting thoughts in their head at the same time and is unwilling
to put aside personal bias to find the truth about the world. “We all naturally
walk around with hundreds of biases of different degrees” (Chou, 2018), it is
what we do with those biases is the difference.
Open-mindedness is defined as willing to consider new ideas.
Synonyms would be unbiased, unprejudiced, nonpartisan, nonjudgmental. According
to Dalio, an open-minded person genuinely believes he could be wrong and is
compelled to see through other people’s point of view. An open-minded person is
more interested in listening than speaking as well as listening to understand
rather than listening to respond. An open-minded person will approach
everything with fear that he or she could be wrong and seeks out all possible
information before making a decision. An open-minded person is curious and
doesn’t become angry when there is a disagreement. I must admit that sometimes
I feel a twinge of anger when I read a disagreeing opinion; however, I have
learned that everyone is entailed to their opinions, their stance on issues and
not everyone is going to agree with me. An open-minded person knows when to
make statements and when to ask questions. And an open-minded person is capable
of holding two conflicting thoughts in his or her head and assessing the
relative merits of both.
What I have learned you can be both closed minded and open
minded. Being that being closed-minded isn’t always a bad thing and always
being open-minded isn’t possible. “Being close minded isn’t always a bad thing.
Being too open minded can lead to a downfall as well” (Chou, 2018). This
statement reminds me of the Aaron Tippin song “You’ve Got to Stand for
Something” (1990), in the chorus, one line says it all: “You’ve got to stand
for something, or you’ll fall for anything.” Sometimes we must become
closed-minded when we take a stance because if we are always open, we can
essentially be fooled by anything. According to Garrett Hardin, having what is
called “default status” is a good thing (Farnam Street). Default status is the
ability to be skeptical on certain ideas or issues. There is wisdom to be
closed minded on certain ideas or issues. For example, if someone came to you
when an idea that would essentially be breaking the law, you have the right to
say “no” without any thought.
Alan Jacobs, author of How
to think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds, outlines three points when
close-mindedness is essential. First, close your mind once you’ve done the work
of thinking and not to avoid thinking. Closing your mind after you’ve chosen
your position after careful consideration, weighing all the options, opinions,
sides, and other information. It is wrong to close your mind in order to avoid
thinking about the subject. It’s like voting guilty on a jury without listening
to the evidence first. Second, close your mind with other people but not toward
other people. The right way to close your mind is in a community that is open
to questions and thoughts from others and does not discourage, mock or exclude
others simply because they have a different position. Third, close your mind
around an end but not the means. Closing your mind when you’re arrived at a
settled conviction. You may remain closed-minded to your end goal but remain
open-minded with other ways to achieve that goal. One of my favorite phrases is
there is more than one way to skin a cat, meaning there is more than one way to
achieve a goal.
In conclusion, I realized that yes, I am closed-minded about
certain things. I have taking my stance and I’ll stick to it. However, it is
after years of thought and consideration. Other issues or ideas, I am open to. I
don’t pretend to know everything. To quote Hamlet, “There are more things in
heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” there is so
much information in this world that it is impossible to know or even understand
it all. One of the reasons I write the blog posts I do is investigate
information I didn’t know or understand and share my thoughts. I also learned
that one person can be bother closed-minded and open-minded and it would be
dangerous to be one extreme or the other.
References
Dalio, Ray (2017). Principles:
Life and Work. Simon & Schuster. September 19, 2017.
Chou, Will. The
Difference between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People. March 2018. www.willyoulaugh.com/open-minded/.
Retrieved March 19, 2019
Farnam Street. The
Difference between Open Minded and Closed-Minded People. https://fs.blog/2017/09/open-closed-minded/.
Retrieved March 19, 2019.
Jacobs, Alan (2017). How
to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. Currency. October 17, 2017.
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