Its funny how ignorant people often defend themselves against people who do not agree with them by calling their detractors close-minded. Being open-minded doesnt mean youre okay with everything, it means youre willing to consider everything. An open-minded man doesnt have to like rap, or jazz, or progressive rock, he just has to be able to see why others might. I think we often confuse free thinkers with hippies, and thats really a shame. Ironically hippies were about as far from free thinkers as you can get, they did wacky and crazy things sure, but they never really considered any opinions that didnt enable or justify their behavior. Fringe does not mean open-minded. Underground does not mean open-minded. Obscure does not mean open-minded. Unpopular does not mean open-minded. Progressive does not mean open-minded. Unique does not mean open-minded. Being open-minded has nothing to do with liking crazy things, or even liking a lot of things. Being open-minded has everything to do with considering things on their merits and looking at them from all angles. What distinguishes a free thinker is the ability to determine when their approach is wrong or ineffective, and to be able to adapt to a new approach seamlessly or as close to seamlessly as possible. Thats nuance though, and weve never been any good at nuance have we kiddies? I can take a vacation from work, but I can never vacation from my thoughts can I?
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 18:55:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015