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Internet Goosing the Antithesis

Monday, March 27, 2006

Question of the Day #34: Open-Minded

TV's Mr. Neil Permalink   5 comments

Image hosting by PhotobucketWhat does it mean to be open-minded, and if so, to what extent?

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5 Comments:

At 3/27/2006 5:12 AM, Blogger Mike declaimed...

I think it is a dire mistake to consider being "open minded" some kind of epistemological stance, no matter the details of that stance. All it can mean in an epistemological sense is that you have a relatively loose set of standards for what you will consider to be true, and I don't see why anyone would consider that to be a positive.

The phrase "open minded" is much more useful when describing an openess to different life experiences, both for yourself and others.

 
At 3/27/2006 7:57 AM, Blogger Zachary Moore declaimed...

I think "open-minded" just has to do with allowing oneself to consider all possibilities as potentially valid. Obviously, incoherent or self-contradicting concepts do not have possible existence, so one doesn't have to fall into the trap of allowing anything to be valid.

 
At 3/27/2006 7:09 PM, Blogger The Jolly Nihilist declaimed...

To be open minded is to allow for one's own opinion to change. I am open minded about most issues, though I'm closed minded about others. For example, though I'm open minded about most economic issues, I'm closed minded about abortion, gay marriage and school prayer.

God is a more interesting matter. I recognize that God might exist, though I consider that to be an extremely doubtful proposition. Nevertheless, I consider myself to be an atheist, since there is no evidence at all supporting God's existence. Therefore, am I closed minded or open minded? I suppose open minded, since I could be convinced to be a theist if the evidence were overwhelming.

 
At 3/28/2006 7:06 AM, Blogger breakerslion declaimed...

Open-minded, to me, means that one is willing to entertain the idea that one's beliefs and conclusions are mistaken, and one is willing to listen to and evaluate contradictory evidence. In some cases, it also means having a healthy imagination, and that also means being able to discriminate between the real and the imaginary.

 
At 3/28/2006 3:33 PM, Blogger Francois Tremblay declaimed...

I am probably the most close-minded person on the planet, and I'm proud of it.

 

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