The Value of an Open Mind

Most people have opinions about the way the world works by the time they reach the end of college. The fact is that at that point we still have most of our lives to live, yet most of us have already decided the “color” of our mental filters through which we will view all of the information we will process in the future. Unless you are an exception to a very strong rule, your beliefs will govern which information you process and remember. Human psychology tells us that we remember information that fits with our view of the world much better than information that does not. In fact, most people even actively seek out information with which they agree. People who believe X buy books, read websites, and listen to other people that support X and/or criticize X’s opposition. People on both sides of an issue avoid working to validate facts presented by these sources, discredit the facts presented by opposing sources, and even ignore obvious logical holes in their own thoughts.

This has always been a problem, no doubt. Today this problem is exacerbated by the presence of a source of (frequently) biased information available to everyone at all times – namely the internet. The fact is that you can find information to back up just about any belief that you have, no matter how ridiculous (see http://theflatearthsociety.org – check out the FAQ section in particular). There are people who will happily mislead others by presenting information that is incomplete, bad, or in some other way inaccurate in order to back up their point of view. We all have to be wary of any information we receive because very few sources are truly unbiased today – everyone seems to have an agenda that they want their information to support. In fact, politics in general seems like it is no longer a search for what’s the “right” thing for our society – it’s a quest to convince people to agree with you at any cost.

Unfortunately, there is no good source (or at best, few good sources) to check the claims made by websites, candidates, etc. – those on the opposite side can’t be trusted, since they will use misinformation to dispute the claims of others just as they mislead you with their own information. This makes it infinitely harder to try and form a good opinion rather than simply trusting all of the information provided by one side or the other. Because we don’t have the time to verify all that we’re told, we end up picking a source or a side and not remaining skeptical about everything. Once you do this, it is very difficult to change sides – all of the information you get will support your beliefs. This process just serves to divide people.

The fact that we have two main political parties in America that have survived for much of our country’s history seems to indicate that they both possess some valid points. If one side were clearly right about everything (or even nearly everything), then it would have won out long ago. People on both sides frequently attribute this to the stupidity of people, and them being duped by the other side, but there are certainly smart people on both sides. The fact is that both parties want the same things – nobody is arguing for more crime, more sick people, a stagnant economy, more terrorist attacks, etc. There is just a disagreement on the best way of accomplishing these goals.