Open-minded people can take in the thoughts of others without losing their ability to think well—they can hold two or more conflicting concepts in their mind and go back and forth between them to assess their relative merits. Where does one get humility? I remember when a hedge fund I was on the board of made a terrible investment decision. Further complicating things, it varies by day and challenge. Try to do better next time.
Remember that this stuff takes work. Either way, this is something worth exploring. I have one more thing to add: Being open-minded does not mean that you spend an inordinate amount of time considering patently bad ideas just for the sake of open-mindedness. There is wisdom in closed-mindedness on certain issues. I strongly doubt it. Then why would you be any different? In addition to the myside bias described above, here are three other cognitive tendencies that work against open-minded thinking:.
We maintain our beliefs by selectively exposing ourselves to information that we already know is likely to support those beliefs. Liberals tend to read liberal newspapers, and Conservatives tend to read conservative newspapers.
The evidence that comes first matters more than evidence presented later. Trial lawyers are very aware of this phenomenon. Once jurors form a belief, that belief becomes resistant to counterevidence. We tend to be less critical of evidence that supports our beliefs than evidence that runs counter to our beliefs. In an interesting experiment that demonstrates this phenomenon Anchor[1], researchers presented individuals with mixed evidence on the effectiveness of capital punishment on reducing crime.
Even though the evidence on both sides of the issue was perfectly balanced, individuals became stronger in their initial position for or against capital punishment.
They rated evidence that supported their initial belief as more convincing, and they found flaws more easily in the evidence that countered their initial beliefs.
Research suggests that people are more likely to be open-minded when they are not under time pressure. Individuals are more likely to be open-minded when they believe they are making an important decision. This is when we start making lists of pros and cons, seeking the perspectives of others, etc.
Some research suggests that the way in which an idea is presented can affect how open-minded someone is when considering it. Create Alert Alert. Share This Paper. Background Citations. Citation Type. Has PDF. Publication Type. More Filters. Open-mindedness and intellectual humility. The benefits of being open-minded are so numerous that it is difficult to narrow it down to just a few, but in this article, I have given just a taste of the many wonderful things open-mindedness has to offer us.
Read on, open your mind to new things, and see just how wonderful it can be to have an open mind. Cast your judgments aside, love people no matter how diverse they are from you, and open your mind so you can know more about the world and people around you before you ignorantly pass judgment on them. Open-mindedness is something everyone should add to their moral compasses because it opens our eyes to what truly makes people and ideas special.
Learn more about them, see their viewpoints, and talk things out so you can both learn just a bit more about how beautifully different people can be. These are the true characteristics of an open-minded person. Just open your mind and learn as much as you can about things you are uneasy about, and it will shine a warm light over your mind and make the stress of not knowing just fade away. If you strive to understand and accept ideas and people different than you, so many doors will be opened for you, and you will learn so much about different cultures and mindsets.
Learning and experiencing new realms of understanding is so freeing, and it is enjoyable to expand your horizons. Just think of the peace and friendship that acceptance and open-mindedness can bring you. When you are not barred by the walls in your mind, you will be so much happier.
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