Having An Open Mind

Two-thousand-sixteen means another presidential election is among us. Our news and social media feeds are cluttered with the candidates faces. We’re constantly hearing their thoughts and seeing their actions. Sometimes I need a breather from all of this because there is so much being thrown at you all at once. One thing that is seen a lot now are the political opinions from your peers plastered all over social media. They all have their thoughts of what they think is right and is wrong. They’ll comment on other people’s post carefully crafting their answers…sometimes. Most of the time the things that I see are people defending their side, attacking the other’s opinion, and “threatening” to cut people off if their views do not align with theirs.

I want to say I’m an open minded person, but many a time my ego gets in my way and I feel “offended” when I hear the other side of the argument and decide to cut it off there. Based on the definition provided by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an open-mind is “willing to consider different ideas or opinions”. I think the concept of having an open mind has been manipulated for what it actually is. Many people say they are “open minded” but they are quick to close their mind to the conversation that is happening. They aren’t willing to listen to the other side, and I say this for both conservatives and liberals.

The Wall Street Journal cleverly crafted an interactive article, “Blue Feed, Red Feed” which shows liberal and conservative news feeds side by side. This article has popped up on my news feed quite a few times, but one person who shared it made really good points. In the most condensed version possible of what she said, it’s important to challenge/consider ideas, but it’s just as important to be willing to listen instead of trying to impose your ideas onto others. That’s what I call open-mindedness.

When I looked at the article, it was fascinating and shocking to see how blind-sided both sides are from the other. Social media has allowed us to sit in our own “echo-chambers” and receive news that we only want to see. I’ll admit, my feed is very blue and it only feeds my ego by reinforcing what I think is “right”. I also have to consider what the other side is hearing and saying.

In a time where America is at such polar opposites, it’s extremely important that we are willing to sit down and have conversations about what’s going on. It’s time to have meaningful conversations verses unproductive arguments. Awhile back I watched Celeste Headlee’s TED talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation. I recently read a TED article that draws inspiration from that talk called, “How a Great Conversation is Like a Game of Catch”. Like this article outlines, a conversation requires at least two people. If you want to have a good conversation, the back and forth is “50% talking and 50% listening” from both sides.

I really suggest you read this article, because to me it’s extremely enlightening. One of the questions that the article addresses is, “What do you think is stopping people from having better, more meaningful conversations?” and the answer that is given is polarization.

“The problem with that is that everybody knows something that you don’t. And so if you are stopping all of those conversations and only speaking with people who have similar experiences and opinions, you’re not going to grow, ever, and you won’t change your mind or your opinion.” — How a Great Conversation is Like a Game of Catch

So let’s have meaningful conversations. Let’s actually be open-minded to different ideas and opinions. I’m not asking you to accept hate, violence, racism, bigotry and the sort. I’m asking you to sit down and have a conversation with someone today. Someone you never thought you’d ever speak to due to their different views. These interactions are the ones that will allow you to shape and grow. At the end, you both will probably end up agreeing to disagree. They may even strengthen your own viewpoints, but you’ve gained a different perspective, heard a different story, and you’re not locked up in some dusty chamber.