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How to Practice Active (not Passive) Open-Mindedness

A simple, 2-step method to help you learn and unlearn more effectively, and gain a stronger body of knowledge in the process.

For all the lip service that we tend to give the concept of “an open mind”, I have found that it both (a) isn’t clearly and consistently defined (b) there is no good set of instructions for how to develop and keep an open mind.

For the most part, I think that we tend to conceive of an open mind as simply being willing to try new things or tolerate people or opinions who are different. But what I mean when I say open mind is more robust than that. I call it being actively open-minded. By actively open minded I mean possessing the following 2 traits:

1. The ability to quickly and nimbly integrate new information into your current set of beliefs.
2. The willingness to change your existing beliefs according to the strength of evidence that supports them.

Those of us who consider ourselves as “lifelong learners” have likely honed the first trait quite well. But the second trait— effectively the ability to change your mind — is challenging for many. And often, the more educated you take yourself to be, the more research you have done and the more intellectual milestones you have reached, the harder it is to be willing to change your mind.

So my advice here is less about developing the first trait, because I think most of us have an idea of how to learn a bunch of stuff, and begin weaving it into the fabric of our existing knowledge. What I will focus on is how to be ready, willing, and able to change your mind about things, and how to stay that way.

The Method

I’ve met a great many people who have claimed (often proudly) that their beliefs are supported by rationality. But what that often means is simply that they have a structured argument for their beliefs, which includes some sort of evidence to support them. That is a great start, and that kind of structure should always be in place to support one’s beliefs, but with the buffet of available evidence for any given belief, it’s not enough.