Open-mindedness: What is 'being open-minded'?

We have emphasised the importance of being open-minded about the life choices of people around us, that we should accept that others live different lives, and that we should never judge them for it. However, I feel there is more in this world that ought to be approached with an open mind. Part of being open-minded may be acknowledging that there are many ways to be open-minded!

In this fourth post, I want to expand our meaning of ‘open-minded’ and show the vast amount of life aspects that we should be open-minded about, as many as I can think of. There are situations where being open-minded may enrich your own life, and situations where you can make life richer for people around you by approaching them and their views open-mindedly. In other words, being open-minded can help yourself and your peers; it can make the world a much better place!

A dictionary definition of ‘open-mindedness’ is “willing to consider new ideas; unbiased”. I think that this is a good description of the strict sense of the word. However, when I think about being open-minded, especially in these posts, I mean being open to differences. Maybe that is something else; there is probably another word for it. But this is how I personally interpret ‘open-minded’. Maybe these two meanings can be combined into one, somehow?

By ‘being open to’ something, I mean being willing to accept, and assimilate something. This means both recognising its validity and being willing to learn from it. So, it is roughly the same as ‘willing to consider’, as the dictionary definition states.

New ideas will be different from previous, by definition – they would not be ‘new’ otherwise – so the ‘new ideas’ part could easily be included in the more broad word ‘differences’. So, my choice of word is simply broader; it is inclusive rather than exclusive – there is no contradiction.

‘Unbiased’ basically means unprejudiced. (Bias is defined as “prejudice in favour of or against one thing, person or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair”.) It is a good candidate for a synonym of ‘open-minded’. The word ‘unprejudiced’ also conveys the meaning that open-mindedness focuses on the first time you encounter a new idea or opinion – that is when it is the most important to be open. After, you may already have good reasons not to be willing to reconsider the idea – though it would never hurt to be open to re-evaluate your judgement!

Let us now try to combine these into one single explanation: ‘open-minded’ could be said to mean willing to consider and assimilate new ideas, opinions or views free from bias.

Of course, you are more than welcome to comment with your own input of what you think it means to be open-minded! Please share! This is only what I think, and maybe Hanna agrees with most of it… Our explanation is not the only one! We acknowledge this as we strive to be open-minded.

I hope we are all satisfied enough to move on to slightly more specific ways of being open-minded. However, on reviewing the post this far, it seems it will become too long if we include the examples. I will conclude here, but promise to follow up with the rest in a new post very soon! I hope next time will be able to inspire you cherish open-mindedness as we do, and make it your goal as well! 

This post was also published on Hanna's A Little Blog About Words.