what does it mean to be open minded?

To me, to be open minded is to really listen.

Really think, really be flexible, and be ready to listen to everyone; with intent not to argue, but to see how we in the end...we are already in agreement.

 

The definition says: unprejudiced There doesn't have to be anything wrong with judging/considering an idea you think of as worthless to be ridicious but it is simply not being openminded... unless you first accept the idea or person might be worthy to consider objectively. Then you still could come to the same conclusion for yourself but you would have looked at it from a less subjective perspective :2thumbsup:

 

Or just skip all the unnecessary middle garbage and arrive at the same conclusion I would have anyway much faster and easier.

 

don't be a ****.

 

Then there is no point in claiming to be open-minded.

You don't have to be open-minded... no-one is forcing you to be so.

It's not an insult - it's your choice.

I respect that choice - I just choose to wish to push myself as close to the other end of the spectrum as much as I'm capable of.

 

Rewriting the dictionary, one term at a time, are you?

 

Like I said, you can do that if you want but it is the opposite of what this thread is about: what it means to be openminded.

 

I don't think anyone has ever accused storm of being open minded.

 

You even selectively address opinion, cutting and cropping as you see fit.

No re-writing required, clear definition is observed in the choices you make.

As I said, there's no problem with it - just no point trying to identify yourself as something you're not. You're only doing yourself the dis-favour, not any of us.

Learn to be yourself, accept yourself for who you are and you will have a more pleasant existence.

 

Being open minded doesn't mean one has to approve nor accept. It means they respect the rights of others.

 

Open-mindedness, if we are going to be honest here, is not just the understood acceptance of respect that a ridiculous idea does not deserve. After all, I am open-minded enough to realize that not everything deserves to be accepted or respected or even given a modicum of ear time.

 

Perhaps you missed calgirl's post?

I never said you had to accept or agree with the idea... just show respect to those offering the idea.

To close off your opinion and discard their opinion without even considering it, is not showing them respect and is not open-minded.

 

Respect might have different meanings here. A homeless man that needs a shower and a dentist might not "deserve" respect.....but he doesn't deserve disdain either. He has made that choice, and it's the choice I respect.

 

As the saying goes, it's good to have an open mind, just not so open that your brain falls out.

 

People with ridiculous ideas do not deserve respect. Plain and simple. The "closing off of my opinion" is a contradiction because I have no problem offering my opinion.

 

You mean like hitler? Or the Sandy Hook mass murderer? Or Susan Surandon?

 

Everyone was already honest here I think. Please join us

Realizing not everyone's ideas are worth your time is not really the same as being openminded I think. What deserves your attention is already sujectively decided. The opposite of acting upon that realisation in a judgemental and dismissive way is what it means to be openminded.

 

Everyone deserves respect, but you do not have to offer it to them - that is your choice.

 

What is plain and simple is that this is not what this thread is about. It comes closer to the exact opposite. What is ridicilous and what or who deserves respect differs per person. To judge ideas or people as ridicilous, worthless or nonsensical without looking at them with an open mind is... closeminded, exactly :2thumbsup:

 

What gets me is the assumption of close mindedness because of a difference of opinion.
More than once I've been told to 'open my mind' because I called bullshit on something. Assuming that I've not thought about the issue or tried to approach it openly but since my experience and research led me to a different conclusion, this person, who doesn't really know me, will call me close minded.

I believe in having an open mind but I believe telling someone else to open their mind, is assumptive and dismissive and is a poor debate tactic that's over used by people who don't like their opinions challenged.