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The Sealed Mind
Why is the idea of the open mind so powerful? Everybody likes to think that they have an open mind but in reality I think we all fall short of that supposed ideal state. I doubt that it is possible to take everything in equally and treat every piece of information with the same degree of open enquiry and scepticism. We are simply too finite. We have short and hectic lives so we cannot afford to have open minds. We must take large amounts of information on face value or treat it according to our prejudices. This is simply inevitable.
I am very often accused of having a closed mind. This is because I have opinions, express them and they differ from those of other people. The other people are proud of their open minds, so obviously any differences in my beliefs can only be attributed to my closed mind. This is the only possible explanation because the other options are obviously not true: I am not stupid; they are not wrong. That simple and obvious logic has guided people with many diverse opinions to chide me for having a closed mind. My mind must be closed, I am as bright as they are but I don't hold their opinions, it is obvious that I am deliberately ignoring the truth of Christianity or Buddhism or Hip Hop or Satanism or alien abductions or astrology or Chinese medicine or libertarian anarchy or whatever else they believe in. I am doing it deliberately and I should stop it now, I should open my mind, then I would believe what they believe.
It doesn't wash with me any more. I no longer feel guilty about being mortal and finite. I know that I cannot possibly learn everything myself and question every assumption. I have got to use my brain to help me stop wasting time. I do not need to taste every piece of broccoli to know that I don't like it.
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Stop press, in the interests of having an open mind I recently tried some broccoli, it's not that bad. Not exactly as tasty as fried chicken but OK. I wouldn't go as far as asking for any but I won't leave it on my plate if I'm given it. So what will I try next? Religion? Skydiving?
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I don't need to go to the Antarctic to know that it's cold. There are several thousand religions in the world and I really don't need to feel guilty about not studying them all for two or three years each just in case they hold some fabulous revelation. I am trusting in my fellow man here to help me out. I trust somebody else to find the valid content and bring it out. Just as I have trusted other men in the past to show what foods are good to eat.
Cheese, anchovy, basil, olives and oregano work together and make a wonderful combination of flavours, I didn't have to discover it myself by randomly combining curdled residues of animal secretions with dead fish and plants. I didn't have to invent it with an open mind, I had the experience of others to show me. I knew that many people who like the foods that I do also like anchovies on their pizzas, so I knew it was worth a try. I also know that dogshit and gravel are unlikely to make good burger relishes for similar reasons, but maybe I am just being closed minded about it? Perhaps you would like to try it in the interests of having an open mind? Or perhaps you see that I have a point, an open mind is not the ultimate virtue.