Open-mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas. Open-mindedness relates to the way in which people approach the views and knowledge of others." Jason Baehr defines an open-minded person as one who "characteristically moves beyond or temporarily sets aside his own doxastic commitments in order to give a fair and impartial hearing to the intellectual opposition". Jack Kwong's definition sees open-mindedness as the "willingness to take a novel viewpoint seriously". According to Wayne Riggs, open-mindedness springs from an awareness of the inherent fallibility of one's beliefs; hence, open-minded individuals are more inclined to listen to, and seriously consider, alternative viewpoints. There are various scales for the measurement of open-mindedness. Harding and Hare have argued that schools should emphasize open-mindedness more than relativism in their science instruction, because the

scientific community The scientific community is a diverse network of interacting scientists. It includes many " sub-communities" working on particular scientific fields, and within particular institutions; interdisciplinary and cross-institutional activities are als ...

does not embrace a relativistic way of thinking. Among other things, the critical attitude involves an open-minded outlook with respect to one's beliefs. Open-mindedness is generally considered an important personal attribute for effective participation in

management team Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpo ...

s and other groups. Open-mindedness is usually encouraged in group settings, within different cultures and new environments. According to David DiSalvo, closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain's natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a " search and destroy" relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people's current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable by introducing such ambiguity. Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency. Virtues contrasting with open-mindedness include steadfastness,

loyalty Loyalty, in general use, is a devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another h ...

, and fundamentalism.

See also

References

Further reading