Popularity and open mindedness

Why is it that people claim to be open minded and tolerant and yet they still subscribe to all the racism and sexist that comes their way in the form of popular media? People should figure out what they stand for and then do it, but it seems a trend among "open minded" people to just go with whatever is popular.

not entirelly true. I am very open minded but i would hardlly "follow the crowd" to say. Most of todays open minded people yes probally do that but not all. So please don't make asumptions.

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People should figure out what they stand for and then do it, but it seems a trend among "open minded" people to just go with whatever is popular.

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It was not an assumption. Most "open minded" people that I have met simply follow the expected pattern of thinking. I never said they all do but it would seem to be the trend.

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it seems a trend among "open minded" people to just go with whatever is popular....Most "open minded" people that I have met simply follow the expected pattern of thinking. I never said they all do but it would seem to be the trend.

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Well they aren't open minded then are they! An open mind has and shows receptiveness to new and different ideas or the opinions of others. Real open-minded people don't go with the norm pattern of thinking; that would be a contradiction.

People are lead to believe that they are open minded when in fact they are not. It would seem that open mindedness has become an excuse to stop thinking altogether. Open mindedness encourages the flow of ideas but at the cost of creativity. People just seem to accept other ideas rather than think about them first. It's almost a bad thing to question ideas because it would look like judgement.

Take just about any controversial subject and watch the open minded people take the popular stance and mock those who stand against it.

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True open minded-ness requires progressive thinking with the confidence to know that one will evolve to accept all new thoughts and technologies even though current thoughts or technologies might become outdated.

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But open mindedness is not intelligent unless it has limits. To accept all ideas is not only contradictory in some case but also dangerous if the ideas are of an extreme nature. If ideas are not challenged before accepted then open minded people simply do not think.

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Open mindedness permits the possibility of anything to be true. But the statistical probability of it being true is something different, and accuracy in that regard depicts intelligence.

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But if by looking at statistical probability you decide that something cannot be true then you become closed minded. This statement is the catch that allows open minded people to close their minds and still be considered open minded. But then you simply decieve yourself.

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So to be intelligent requires open mindedness

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To be intelligent should require one to challenge new ideas and reject those things that do not make the grade.

one time a christian told me that hey would rather die thinking they were right, all the while being wrong, than admit they are wrong. i feel this closely relates. people get it in there mind that they are right with out thinking any thing through. and because most people are unfurtunately lakcing the ability to think things through, they except that said person has a solid ground to stand on with out asking anyquestions. then the person gets confident that they are right and trys to back their statement up with evidence. because they are ultimatly unintelligent, they simply copy what they have heard in the past from real, concise well thought out arguments, and put that in their argument. and unfurtuanatly again, society is just as stupid as they are. so they eat it up. here is an example:

a man says that being prejudice is bad. he then looks at some downtown "hoodlums" and gets tense. when asked if that was prejudice he says no. his reasoning is "they are dangerous". idiots say "yes they are". when actually they know nothing about those kids. then its just a chain reaction from there.

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a man says that being prejudice is bad. he then looks at some downtown "hoodlums" and gets tense. when asked if that was prejudice he says no. his reasoning is "they are dangerous". idiots say "yes they are". when actually they know nothing about those kids. then its just a chain reaction from there.

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This example proves little to nothing. That man may have been (or known someone) that was wronged by a group of "hoodlums" and therefore his opinion is not prejudice because it is based on reason and experience.

a subjective veiw is a prejudice view. my point was that prejudice is not always bad, and that is why it is so popular, because it is an easy way for people to deal with problems.

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My previous message was quite clear about rejecting ideas that don't make the grade...

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No it contained the loophole that allows open minded people to be closed minded as they see fit. You didn't say anything about rejecting ideas you simply said that you can determine which or more possible. Also by using statistical probability you shut off your mind to ideas of the super natural.

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Well look at that. Now you're saying we should not be analytical about "certain" things

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Not so. You can be analitical about spiritual matters but there is not the same kind of statistical probablility in such matters.

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And being that you are a devout Christian it would appear you are defending a point now because it threatens your security.

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I am not threatened because I believe in such things. But statistical probability would inhibit you from realising such things because you cannot calculate the Spirit in conventional ways. It is funny that you think your unbelief threatens me

i have recently learned the following from a coversation with ethereal...

prejudice is popular because people are stupid. whenever we are prejudice towards a man with a gun in a bank that does not look stable, we are more than justified in saying that he is a crimanal that is going to ron the bank. when we say that it is justified to say that young kids dont know anything, we are not justified (for sake of argument do NOT bring up my no right and wrong theory). it is an intelligent thing t say that he is a robber because one, the circumstances are extreme, and two the is an abundance of situational evidence to this particular case. if we said that i saw a guy that looked insane, he must be robbing the bank, i would be wrong. because the only evidence i have is looks. and all 'look' interpretation is automaticaly subjective to our own previous history. the reason why i am unjust in saying that the kids dont know anything is the only evidence i have is previous people, or my prejudice towards young people.

the reason why it is stupid peoples fault is because they cant tell the difference between a bank robbery and a smart remark. and we all know how many stupid people there are.

thats not the only bit i have learned, but i will stop there.

Faith is a choice based on belief through experience so I guess that is where statistical probability comes in. But spirituality is both known and unknown and I don't think you can explain it all through analysis because if you could then it would cease to be super natural wouldn't it?

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Without blind mathematical statistical probability

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Past experiences have been proven wrong. If you always play the odds then no progress has been made. Sometimes the stand out, the least likely happens and is proof that neglecting the least likely is closed mindedness. Open mindedness is accepting the mere possibility. So playing the odds is disclosing possibility even if it is small.

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The only difference between faith and mental illness is that faith is more widely accepted.

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Couldn't agree more.