Think youre open minded? Then read this. I apologize, this post is a bit long, but worth its time in gold. A listener may either accept or reject (like or dislike) the speaker; he may likewise accept or reject (agree or disagree with) the statement. Then the following are the possible ways to react to the communication: 1. Accept the speaker and accept the statement; 2. Accept the speaker but reject the statement; 3. Reject the speaker but accept the statement; 4. Reject the speaker and reject the statement. A person with a closed mind is able to only have reactions (1) and (4), either accepting the speaker and the statement, or rejecting the speaker and the statement. The person with the open mind however, is able to have, in addition to reactions (1) and (4), the more complex reactions (2) and (3): of accepting the speaker but rejecting the statement, or rejecting the speaker but accepting the statement. The person with the closed mind is apparently one who finds life threatening. If either the speaker or the statement is unacceptable to him, he rejects both. This is exactly the orientation Lenin habitually exhibited: an individual on his side who said anything unacceptable to him was shown to be either muddleheaded or unconsciously on the enemy side; any on the enemy side who said anything acceptable to him was also declared to be either muddleheaded or masking his true nature. In short, the closed mind is definitely two-valued in its orientation: you have to like everything about the speaker or nothing. Psychologically, all human beings are engaged simultaneously in two tasks: (1) they seek to know more about the world, and (2) they wish to protect themselves from the world-especially from information that might prove upsetting. As the need for defense against disturbing information gets stronger, curiosity about the world gets weaker. (A person will be open to information insofar as possible, and will reject it, screen it out, or alter it insofar as necessary.) Things we believe we call our belief system, and the things we dont believe in we can refer to as our disbelief system. (For example, if you are a Catholic, Catholicism is your belief system and your disbelief system would be atheism, Protestantism, Judaism, Buddhism, and so on.) If you are a reasonably secure and well-organized individual , you enjoy your own belief system, but you are also open to information about your disbelief system. (You are able, although Catholic, to take in information about Protestantism, Judaism, Buddhism, and so on, and to see the differences among the various bodies of ideas that you do not believe in.) To be open to information about your disbelief system is to have an open mind. The inability to see the differences among the various things you do not believe in characterizes the closed mind. Credits: S.L. Hayakawa & Milton Rokeach
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 01:36:20 +0000
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