Open mindedness Part#1
It seems to be an extremly common experience amognst people who dont believe in certain non-scientific concepts to be told by others who do to be more open-minded. this advice is typically based on highly flawed thinking, including an inaccurate understanding of what open-mindedness is. Infact being open minded means simply means willing to consider new ideas. Science promotes and thrives on open-mindedness, because the advancement of our understanding about reality in which we exist depends upon our willingness to consider new ideas. Indeed scientific discovery often requires entirely new ways of thinking. However, not only does believing in certain non-scientific concepts not automaticlly make you open minded, it can often lead you to be the complete opposite. A friend of mine once noticed a moving lamp shade in my room and said it was a ghost. When i told him it wasn’t. He said “you got the evidence infront of you & that i was stubbornly close minded and had no curiosity”. When he finished his little outburst, I reached down and switched off this lamp heater, underneath the lamp to stop its warm heater from moving the shade. It was actually my friend who had no curiousity in this situation. He lead to an immediate conclusion and dismissed all alternatives. When you label an event as supernatural, just because it has no explaniation obvious to you. You will inevitably misinterpret evidence and make invalid causal connections. You will eliminate a whole realm of alternative explaniations, before its even clear which explaniations might be appropiate and that’s the very definition of CLOSE-MINDEDNESS.
People who tell others to be more open minded about so called “supernatural” concepts, often accompany this advice with one or more personal anecdotes they claim it can’t be explained. This is another flawed approach. Even if your experience can’t be explained, that in no way strengthens the case for any supernatural concept. All it shows is that your experience can’t be explained. Trying to suggest that a lack of explaniation is evidence that supernatural powers are at work, is actually a contradiction. Infact what you are saying is that ‘I can’t explain something Hence I can explain it’. The unexplained is just that: Unexplained. Furthermore, although its quite reasonable to describe an experience and tell peopl you can’t explain it. Telling your audience they can’t explain it is senseless, becuase your audience has no independent access to the event you described nor any way of investigating which details you missed or edited out.
