What are the limits to "keeping an open mind"?

Question

Should there be any limits at all?

I can understand keeping an open mind about the possibility of extraterrestrial life or anything else that is plausible, but should I keep an open mind about my car turning into a unicorn?

Is it close minded to think dreams involve no actual travel outside of the body? Is it close minded, in the light of her claims and evidenced failures, to suspect Sylvia Browne of wholesale fraud? Is it close minded to believe all possible natural causes must first be eliminated before even considering paranormal causes?

Naturally, one should do what one can to avoid acting with prejudice should consider all evidence when evaluating a paranormal claim. One should use this evidence, along with reason, rationality and to some degree probability when doing before really jumping to any conclusion. However, I see many responses here where the default answer is: It must be paranormal. There is no other possible explanation.

EDIT: n.s. - I do not make a *direct* correlation between education and intelligence. However, you needn't look far to see how an education diminishes superstition and improves one's understanding of the world. That's not to say education=authority, but it's also not to say that just because someone is educated he/she is an idiot. (Just because a guy can't change the oil doesn't mean he knows nothing about astronomy or physics.)

It's true that science isn't able to explain everything, but it is able to explain a great deal. If something is tangible and can be measured then odds are science can do something in the way of explaining it to some degree.

The lack of a unified theory doesn't speak to the validity of the theories that *do* exist and are verifiable.

Let's not get into Pascal's Wager. It is easily refuted and besides it has very little to do with what we're discussing here, unless you are saying you have nothing to lose by believing in the paranormal.

outaspace

EDIT: Denie - You do a fine job of providing honest answers here. You state most people come here to find a natural explanation. I am not sure if I agree with you there, but I do agree that there seem to be people here on both sides who are close minded.

I admit to being a bit close minded when it comes to certain paranormal claims, but I assure you my position is based on not just personal experience, but also evidence, research and good science.

Although there are two sides (at least) to every story, both sides of an issue do not always deserve equal and ongoing attention. Anything is *not* possible.

jenna - It's a bit presumptuous of you to point fingers when you limit the use of selective reasoning to skeptics only.

Why am I here? I am not here for ego or to humiliate anyone. I am not here to support some dogma or to convert anyone to my way of thinking. I am here to provide a counter-balance to those who are anti-science and disinterested in natural explanations. I am here as a reminder that no one should take the paranormal or supernatural for granted.

Can't you be open-minded long enough to see things from a rational, natural perspective?

Answer 1

Great question, but I'm not sure how to answer it. I could either sum up in a couple sentences or go on for several hundred, but it's had to do anything in between. Know what I mean? I mean look, I've already used up 3 sentences!

I'll give it a shot. There are several ways I look at this, but I'll present just one. An intelligent approach to keeping an open mind can be thought of as being open to considering all possibilities, but always prioritizing the possibilities in order of their probability and giving each credence accordingly. The most likely explanations are given more credence while the least likely ones (e.g., those that require the existence of invisible gremlins with telekinetic powers) are given the least.

Of course everyone prioritizes differently, so this is somewhat subjective. However, the common element is that explanations that don't require the postulation of mechanisms totally outside of our scientific knowledge base should be considered before those that do (see Occam's Razor). A corollary is that you should be as accepting of the mundane, unexciting natural explanations as you are of the exciting, supernatural ones, and more so. When undue consideration is given to explanations outside of our scientific knowledge (thus untestable, unfalsifiable and not scientific) while natural explanations are not fully explored, that could be an instance of closed-mindedness. And not very scientific, either!

So, basically how I am presenting this is that "open-mindedness to the possibilities" is actually a form of close-mindedness to the mundane yet higher probability explanations. However, it can also be due to lack of knowledge of those mundane natural mechanisms (i.e., science), so I don't want to pin it all on mere stubbornness.

This is just one take on it, and not meant to be the last word, and not meant with offense to anyone.

Answer 2

Again,
Closed minded is pre-judging, not accepting any new thought on a subject at all. You already know it all and that is that.

An open mind covers everything else so you have to use reason and not the skeptics selective reasoning.

If you have not had the experience and are not interested in reading such experiences then why are you here?

To cause ill feelings toward people ?
To sharpen your rhetoric and arguing skills( or lack of)
To feel superior by shooting down anyone and everyone?

When all esle fails you can always fall back on the " this is the science and Math category" that always makes the inferiority complex guys feel superior
There has to be some big payoff for you guys, with spending all day and night on here, a category that you claim to not believe at all. That is so full of BS.
I dont go to the section of fantasy role playing because I think it is stupid and the people who do are idiots, but I don't go there and torment them. Am I just a good person?

Answer 3

I'm a frim belever taht tehre si a distinctive diffrence bewteen havnig an opne mind and being gullable.....

I misspelled many of the first words in this sentence to prove a point....

There are many reasons you should keep an open mind readily avalible...for example the proof of intelligent life in existance beyond our own....most likely we've already stumbled upon it and didn't even know it....due to the human limits of our own open minds....

When an open mind becomes a gullible sucker and easily manipulated is when it comes to these "television psychics" The REAL supernaturally gifted people among us do NOT flaunt their abilities on Montel and Jerry Springer. Anyone who claims to be "psychic" to sell a book or persuade callers to pay $4.99 a minute....isn't a psychic...they're a con artist.

I whole hearted believe that there are things beyond our scientific explanation and understanding....but those things do not include...personalities hollywood sells as genuine.

Back to the first line in this answer...when you read it to yourself....did you still make out the phrase:

I'm a frim believer that there is a distinctive difference between havnig an open mind and being gullable.....

The point is that the human mind fills in the blanks weither or not we want it to...based on information present....if the information does NOT add up to previous experiences then thats when the imagination has to take over and that's when we get these amazing stories of the supernatural....not because it's "supernatural" per se....but because the human mind is trying to quantify what it's seeing.....

There's my 3 1/2 cents worth....

Answer 4

It's not close minded to believe there is a logical or natural explanation. There have been so many cases of "paranormal" events being that of rational explanation that to jump into a paranormal explanation would be ignorant.

Here are some things to always keep in mind:
There are many gullible people, those who let their defenses down because they want to believe. These people are the easiest to manipulate for any con artist

Most people who seek the paranormal don't have any relevant scientific knowledge. How many ghost hunters that try to detect electromagnetic fields have any physics or engineering backgrounds? How many Exotic Species hunters actually have a biology background and recognize something that is actually exotic and undiscovered?

Answer 5

pd...Thanks for the question ! This is what I think: Most people who come on here with their "experiences" are first of all looking for a "scientific" or "natural" answer. Most of the time, the skeptics don't give an answer that satisfies them or totally explains what has happened to them. When they see that similar things have happened to other people...with paranormal explanations...they feel they have at least some "verification" of their experience. Some become "close minded" to scientific explanations...just as you are usually "close minded " to paranormal explanations. I'm one who is "on the fence"! (Please notice that on the recent " SLI" question I gave both a "natural" possibility and a "paranormal "possibility.)
EDIT..pd..I can tell you from personal experience...that even humans with bodies cannot be trusted. Therefore humans without bodies can be trusted even less. I want others to realize that even tho they wouldn't talk to or get in the car with a stranger...that's EXACTLY what they're doing when they communicate and follow the advice of spirits. I think I kinda know you a little...but no way would I travel to where ever you are to meet you without protection (a friend or even a gun).(not in these days)(just an example of someone going to meet a spirit)What protection do ghost hunters etc have against ghosts? It just doesn't seem safe to me for them to seek after ghosts..spirits..etc.(I already know you don't believe they exist)

Answer 6

Having the privilege to preview your previous answers and questions without having been blocked by you sends a message about your character regardless as to whether or not I or others agree with you. I'm typically not impressed with a fan base but it does show that there are some who respect your presence here. Having used YA over the last year has opened my eyes to my own naivety and deluded expectations of the Internet as well. My view about how our educational system having suppressed many by it's affordability issues is just one thorny topic that comes to mind. If there's any room for debate on open mindedness; than it's about the price of knowledge today and how it's been abused by so many out of ignorance,prejudice and arrogance. Maybe one problem here is how we interpret others we have become accustomed to "emotionally" disagreeing with.

Answer 7

what a chatty group!

i think the best answer is: how do you know if you have too 'open' a mind? if your brain falls out.

Its really a matter of Focus vs Gullibility

a scientist can be 'focused' on explaining why a particular patch of ground is more magnetic than the surrounding area, and still roll his eyes when someone suggests a UFO landed there, without being considered 'closed-minded'.

the same way if a dozen people with no training state that their houses are haunted, just because they heard a bump in the night (after watching one of those cheesey 'ghost' shows in TV), then they are just plain 'gullible'.

Answer 8

By definition here,your close minded if not open to the possibility 2+2=5.

Answer 9

Our limits to keeping an open mind are directly proportional to our level of curiosity in the matter being investigated. It's human nature to look for explanation of things even if none apparently exist.

Answer 10

PD I think keeping an open mind means that while you may not believe in something, you are open to the possibility that there may be something to prove it in the future. To say someone has to have a degree in something they want to explore, is the height of Pseudo Science and Pseudo Skepticism. By saying someone has to have a PHD in anything or their are not qualified to research anything is plain pompus and condescending. By that measure, Einstien said he wasnt that good at math. So I guess he should not have been studying physics at home? Is it saying one has to study in a university to have any education? Does a degree make one smarter than the other? PD you know where I stand on a lot of things. But to say because I investigate something I am open to a con artist is stupid. If one thinks the measure of intelligence is by how long you spent in school or how much you paid for a piece of paper, then I say they are the ones that wasted their time because they learned nothing at all. Some of the greatest discoveries and inventions came from people who had little or no formal education in what ever they were doing. It is precisely this that makes people so irate at those who think by virtue of the fact they have a PHD in something like Physics are far superrior to those the look down on. I know many PHDs who cant tell you how to change the oil in their car. Should I look down on them for not knowing what I consider such a simple operation? If you havent experienced anything some call paranormal, then good for you, your lucky. But a lot of us have. And while I do consider the fact a ghost may exist, I have not seen one face to face, but i can tell you, I have been in one's presence. Science cannot explain everything because some things for now are out of its reach. If this was not so, after so many decades, there would be a unified theory, but at last glance, they arent even close to any unified theory, so based on that which theory is correct, The General theory, or the Quantum theory? Newtons theory was thrown out when the General theory was concocted and is now protected by those who worship at the alter of Einstien, yet it doesnt explain the working of small scale physics. newtons theory works well with Quantum Physics to explain small scale phisics but does not work on the large scale. So which is right? both? they cant because they dont work together. And since I believe in God, and you dont. Who is right? If I live a good life according to the Bible, and I die, Then I have a chance at heaven. But by your belief of no GOD, then when you die, you may just die and thats it, but if there is a God, you lose. For me its win win. if i die and thats it, then I still lived a good life. But If I find there is an after life, I stand a good chance of being saved, so I see no loss in it for me. I think we can respect eahother while disagreeing, and there does not have to be some belief that your better than me or I am better than you.