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Who is actually 'open-minded'?

I am tired of people who claim that they are the ones that have an 'open mind' just because they have a belief in something unsupported (and generally disproved) by science like homeopathy, UFO/alien visits, psychic ability, god etc

Firstly, just because you believe in things and have convinced yourself these things are true, does NOT in any way make you open minded. To be truly open minded, one must go out of their way to understand the very best arguments/evidence for and against, and then form an opinion without bias or prejudice, reserving the right to change ones mind, agian, based on sufficient overwhelming evidence.

I hear many debaters on the side of the skeptics like myself such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins use the phrase

'I like to be open minded, just not so open minded that my brains fall out'.

Massive respect to Dawkins and Hitchens, however, a better way of putting it for me would go like this

'I am open minded, but its being open minded that makes me not believe in the nonsense you believe in'

Lets take away the 'open minded' label away from believers of nonsense, and lets adopt it ourselves. Being open minded is a good thing

RobH86 7 May 20
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35 comments (26 - 35)

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1

I am open minded enough to listen to some of the questionable things my friends believe, and then I do research and really try to see some real benefit, truth, proof, etc., but I am usually convinced by my research that it is bunk. Therefore my pat answer to some of these ideas is that if believing such makes them happy or feel better, then so be it, and it's likely true for the, but don't push those ideas on others or ridicule me for not believing.

1

Believing due to a gut feeling is ok, basing your actions and trying to force other peoples action (or gov actions) on this belief is a narrow mind.
Open mind is challenging your own beliefs and not challenging others on theirs.
An open minded ufo believer, would go around investigating claims that he believe by feeling but wants to discover and understand the real facts.
But what we see is people telling that they are open minded for believing and telling that you are narrow minded because you refuse to accept a claim without some good evidence.

1

I think and trust that you will find that the most open-minded people on this insignificant hunk of rock we call the Earth would the declared Atheists since we, for the most part, have read and studied the Goat-Herders Guide to Galaxy word by word, line by line, chapter by chapter, etc, etc, WITH an open mind and not, as ever so many Faithfools do, merely Cherry-picking our way through it.
That also covers how we, Atheists view Science, History, etc, etc, i.e. we read it, digest it, dissect it, examine it, weigh it up and then, also with an open mind, come to our own conclusions, theories, etc.
To me, personally, having an open mind is where ones is OPEN to see both sides of everything equally, understanding both sides equally, examining it from ALL sides equally, etc, and then and only then forming your own conclusions, etc.

1

I agree. I'm open minded but still have a brain.

1

I define being "open minded" differently. I am but depending on the topic, issue, or subject.
I find though, that what you think is "nonsense" is in itself up for conversation. I found your examples interesting; homeopathy and psychics unsupported ass well. My belief is through experience and research. However I do agree with the snarky-ass label people put out when I'm not open-minded as they think I should be. But it is continued discourse that keeps the old brain rocking and rolling

I would be happy to have a debate about the ideas we discussed such as homeopathy etc. If you can show me evidence that I am wrong I will change my mind. It just has to be good evidence

0

That's silly. It's obviously everybody who agrees with me!

OCJoe Level 6 May 22, 2019
0

I am open minded. It means that I have an open mind about the things that I have decided at this point in time to be open about. Earlier in my life I might not have been this way on some subjects and I might evolve more also in the future. So much for being open minded.

0

That's like saying, "I believe in freedom of speech, but not for people who spout the type of nonsense that you spout."

not really. I don't say that people can't have opinions. I don't say even that people with supernatural beliefs and the like don't have the right to identify as being open minded. What I say is that if you think you know something to be true which is not only unsupported by science, but generally disproved by science, then during a debate/conversation with these people you should also have the right to identify as open minded. This then leads to discussion as to what being open minded means and how it helps forms opinions.

0

There is at least some evidence in favor of homeopathy:

[ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Given the exorbitant cost of medical care in the US I expect many people have no option but to treat themselves with some sort of folk medicine or homeopathic method they read about on line.

There is a great deal of evidence for psychic phenomena and some very intelligent people have been open minded about the psychic. Werner Von Braun is one example. The spirit of science is to leap in greedily with an open mind and try to learn about new phenomena. Sitting back and debunking things that don’t fit your world view—that is UNscientific.

I don’t know much about alien visits but I remain open minded.

That leaves god, which is a totally different category. I knew a guy once who ardently attacked at any mention of psychic phenomena, UFO’s, cold fusion, homeopathy, or several other ideas he thought were unscientific. I asked him why he had such strong feelings in that regard. He said that that to believe such things would open the door to a belief in God, and that he could not allow himself to have a belief in God. I interpreted that to mean that he had been scared out his wits by church dogma as a child.

Very unfortunate.

I read the conclusion part of that again, and then look for the very best evidence that you can find to show homeopathy works. You probably won't find anything as good as what you have posted here, and that says it all.

Also, as I understand it the homeopathic drug has been watered down so much that it is just water. It would not be possible to overdose on homeopathic drugs

0

Take the label away. Hmm.

And its not so much taking the label away from these people, its about owning that label yourself. When you debate with someone, try to get to a point so that they can see both of you are claiming to be open minded, and from this point, you could have a discussion as to what being open minded means, and how it lead you to your opinions about whatever subject you are debating about

@RobH86 to me, the point really is having a label in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to get into a big philosophical and epistemological debate about language and meaning.

I'm talking about straw man fallacy. I'm talking about stereotyping. I'm talking about implicit bias. I'm talking about using words in a manner that's inconsistent with true understanding.

And the minute you put a label on something, all of a sudden you gain all sorts of power to twist and manipulate and skew and spin and that's what I'm against.

I don't like labels.

@Metahuman thats fine. If you don't identify as open minded then thats fine. I am sure the way you try to view peoples facts/opinions has its own merits. However, for me personally having been told by many family members that I lacked an open mind because I did not share their religious views, it is a way forward for discussion to take place to understand thinking of the other person. Sometimes in an honest discussion you need to go to the place your (for the lack of a better word) opponent is, and having an open mind is something that I choose to hold as a personal identification. I could be wrong or mistaken, sure, but in that case someone just needs to show me that 1 my definition of open minded thinking is wrong or 2 how it is that I don't stick to the open minded process

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