You're Probably Not As Open-Minded As You Think. Here's How To Practice

[Michie]

Do you consider yourself an open-minded person? Most people would likely say yes. I mean, who wants to be closed-minded? But the reality is that many of us are probably not as open to new ideas as we might like. It can be hard to reconsider long-held beliefs, and even harder to question things you didn't even know you believed in the first place.

I spend the vast majority of my time thinking about the future — I make a podcast about possible tomorrows, and just published a book about them, too. And what I've learned is that the only way you can really successfully think about future scenarios is by being open-minded to new ideas, and especially to the possibility that what we have today isn't the best way of doing things. It's not easy, but I believe that it's work that's worth doing. So how can you practice open-mindedness? Here's what the experts I spoke with say:

Recognize that your biological hardware isn't exactly setting you up for success. I have bad news for you about your brain: you don't fully know what it's up to. That might sound ridiculous. But in fact, there are tons of things that your brain does without your conscious control, everything from breathing to making split-second associations between things. And those associations aren't always good ones. There's plenty of research in psychology to show that almost everybody in the world has what are called "implicit biases." These are ideas and associations that we pick up from the world around us without even knowing about them. "The quickest way to define what implicit bias is [is] to say it is the thumbprint of the culture on your brain," says Mahzarin Banaji, a professor of social ethics at Harvard University.

Continued below.
You're Probably Not As Open-Minded As You Think. Here's How To Practice : Life Kit

 

[Robban]

Do you consider yourself an open-minded person? Most people would likely say yes. I mean, who wants to be closed-minded? But the reality is that many of us are probably not as open to new ideas as we might like. It can be hard to reconsider long-held beliefs, and even harder to question things you didn't even know you believed in the first place.

I spend the vast majority of my time thinking about the future — I make a podcast about possible tomorrows, and just published a book about them, too. And what I've learned is that the only way you can really successfully think about future scenarios is by being open-minded to new ideas, and especially to the possibility that what we have today isn't the best way of doing things. It's not easy, but I believe that it's work that's worth doing. So how can you practice open-mindedness? Here's what the experts I spoke with say:

Recognize that your biological hardware isn't exactly setting you up for success. I have bad news for you about your brain: you don't fully know what it's up to. That might sound ridiculous. But in fact, there are tons of things that your brain does without your conscious control, everything from breathing to making split-second associations between things. And those associations aren't always good ones. There's plenty of research in psychology to show that almost everybody in the world has what are called "implicit biases." These are ideas and associations that we pick up from the world around us without even knowing about them. "The quickest way to define what implicit bias is [is] to say it is the thumbprint of the culture on your brain," says Mahzarin Banaji, a professor of social ethics at Harvard University.

Continued below.
You're Probably Not As Open-Minded As You Think. Here's How To Practice : Life Kit

Or as this song tells," .....too old to hear new chimes........"

 

[SuperCow]

I think the average person is more closed-minded than open-minded. it's called learning and facts. To give a few mathematical examples, most of us believe 2+2=4 and if someone has a theory that 2+2=5, they are not open-minded enough to give it credence, and that's okay in most situations. We've learned the correct way to add.

But things get more complicated, even in mathematics sometimes when it's put to the test in real world examples. (Well real world to a physicist anyway.) Two examples. One example is the theory of relativity.

If a car is going 0.6 mph this way --> and another car is going 0.6 mph that way <---, then relative to each other they are going 1.2 mph (0.6+0.6=1.2). The closed-minded approach known for centuries. If a space ship is going 0.6x(light-speed) --> and another is going 0.6x(light-speed) <--, then it would take a very open-minded person to believe that their relative velocity is only 0.88x(light-speed) and not 1.2x(light-speed), probably for many decades after Einstein published his special theory. (And even today probably, unless it was taught to you in physics and you needed to pass.)

The other is in Calculus when working with a diverging series of numbers. 1+2+3+4+5...(forever)=what? First you learn the concept of addition and think there is no answer. Then you learn about infinity and it makes sense to think that the answer must be infinite. Then you get to advanced number theory and find out the real answer is -1/12th. You can be closed-minded and think it makes no sense or open-minded and learn why.

Most things in life are not static like mathematics, and information about the past, about all forms of science, about God, about spirits and about life and death are limited. Nobody knows everything. The difference between a closed-minded person and an open-minded person is really about whether we are content to limit our information to what we think we know or seek out potential information about what is unknown or even incomprehensible.