Part of being a well-rounded person is learning to think for yourself and to honestly pay the price to know what you know.
No amount of parroting others can prepare us to stand on our own when the time comes.
At the same time, taking ownership of our worldview and our opinions is not without some risk.
It’s easy to become locked into our own opinions, especially if we are regularly expressing or defending them.
There’s a very real temptation to make our opinions such a large part of our identity that we struggle to change our minds upon encountering new information.
This can be especially difficult if we have close emotional ties to a group and we cannot bear the thought of leaving the group or losing friends.
To avoid becoming too attached to what we already know, Paul Rosenberg suggests 3 tactics to help us keep an open mind:
Stay warm to the opposite view. This means that the truth is what matters, not who says it.
Keep friends who don’t believe the same as you. It’s a blessing to know people who are competent, experienced and different.
Have someone to try your ideas upon. It’s best if this is someone who doesn’t entirely agree with you.
Keeping an open mind doesn’t mean we have to live in a permanent state of indecision.
It’s possible to commit to the truth and still be flexible for whatever new truth comes our way.
Share this post