If there’s a line to be drawn between skepticism and mere nay-saying, or even downright cowardice, these comments have crossed it.

“New experiences can be bad experiences,” is so incontrovertible as to be meaningless, akin to a reminder that we are going to die some day.

The possibility of failure and/or disaster exists in every human undertaking. Whether it be going from the earth to the moon, from europe to the New World, or from your house to the grocery store, yes indeed, something bad can happen.

So. Not only can NEW experiences be bad experiences, so can the ones you’ve had a hundred times before. Clearly the smart move is to eschew not only the novel, but the routine as well.

I am surprised that the BA — who posed smiling and proud (and justifiably so) in front of the Space Shuttle, would put forth the effort to cut-and-paste such tommyrot.

[As others have noted, if the quoted comments were simply very poorly constructed sarcasm (one hesitates to use the word satire), please forgive my two cents.]

He would always try anything once, but if he didn’t like it then he’d never ever repeat the experience.

That seems like a fairly good rule of thumb to me. After all- there’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, it’s probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on … shame on you. It fool me. We can’t get fooled again.[/quote]

Close, it’s
“Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”

At least that’s how it goes here in Texas.

I think my definition of “judgement” is different than yours… and probably different than most peoples. I’m going to have to think about this.

I agree that self-preservation is pretty much instinctual, btw. I’m just not sure if I agree with what level of intelligence and thought is needed for a “judgement” to occur.

By my personal definitions of these insufferably popluar terms, most of the ‘closed-minded’ folks i know tend to ignore important details like statistical evidence of potential harm, while ‘open-minded’ people are sufficiently alert to the possibility.

I’ll readily admit SOME RELATIVELY SMALL PROPORTION of the ‘open-minded’ are hyper-credulus to all sorts of nonsense. These may be balanced by a similar proportion of ‘closed-minded’ folks who couldn’t tell whether its dangerous to sleep on train tracks even after they’ve consulted their favorite soothsayer.

MAYBE, if “closed-mindedness” can ALSO can be defined as an inability to accept and rationally process real information, AND “open-mindedness” can ALSO be defined as a capacity to accept new information, then (MAYBE) the terms as so often ‘defined’ aren’t worth the considerable breath expended on them.

In my humble opinion? Attaching to these ambiguous terms the presence or lack of intellectual wherewithall is an extraordinarily ‘closed-minded’ exercise that isn’t nearly ‘open-minded’ enough to suit the messy details that are evident in the actuality. Closed or open, it is ludicrously meaningless, and tiresome beyond endurance.

http://www.glasbergen.com/images/sat.gif

“I think we need a new term for people who have an open mind, but just accept as true whatever is only remotely possible, rather than investigating honestly.”

The word “vacuous” seems appropriate for such a mind since it’ll suck in any bit of fluff it happens to come across. We could even make a distinction between the normal use of the word (e.g. meaning “empty-headed”) by spelling it “vacuuous”.

Gas balloons make use of a lighter-than-air gas, such as helium, in a closed envelope. To ascend or descend you either drop ballast weights or release gas through a valve on the top of the envelope. For pilot and passenger safety, when the balloon runs low on ballast or gas, the flight should be terminated as soon as possible.

A hot-air balloon on the other hand, will heat the air through the open bottom with a propane burner to ascend or let the air cool to descend. The difference in piloting technique is enough that both require a different type of licence to fly. Now that I’ve cleared up this little misunderstanding, I still don’t know why the hell the author uses balloons to make his point.

Really, people ’round here carry guns, axes, chainsaws, knives, iron bars, bats, screwdrivers, and so on. They also drive multi-ton vehicles at high speed within a couple feet of me all the time without ever trying to kill me with them. Never occurred to me to shoot any of them, what with me not being violently insane.

I wonder, does that make me open minded?

No, he’s acting on an impulse for self preservation that comes from brain levels far too primitive to support any concept of judgement.

Maybe we should call it having a “sponge mind”. Someone who just soaks up whatever is new or different. Plus they probably have the IQ of a sponge.

Closed-minded is someone who makes a choose without waiting for facts. They can be identifies but the phrases
“The impossible”,
“all the test results are fake”,
“Because I don’t understand, it is no real”

An open-minded person will wait for the facts and only says, “That is interesting, but I will wait to see the all the facts”

Closed-minded people are afraid of world around them. They build walls with absolute answer to scary question.
If someone is afraid or don’t like the idea of God they call themselves an atheist.

An open-minded people would ask “Want it this God idea, and how do we test it?”

Now class, for today’s test please translate the above post into standard English

“Closed-minded people avoid new experiences without realizing that new experiences can be good experiences.

Open-minded people are the ones who suggest things like, “Maybe you should try to vary your diet,” “Let’s find out if this really works!” and “Have you tried living in another neighborhood with a lower crime rate so you won’t have to worry so much about car theft?”

We’re sort of like the hot air in hot air balloons. We keep people who are dumb enough to put too many weights into a hot air balloon from spending their dull little lives land-locked, uneducated, and unaware of the greater world around them.”

Personally I detest the ‘open-minded’ argument. I’ll be open-minded when trying new food or listening to new music but you just can’t convince me peoples moods/fertility/fortune are affected by crystals/star patterns/lucky coins.

An open-minded person will wait for the facts and only says, “That is interesting, but I will wait to see the all the facts”

Closed-minded people are afraid of world around them. They build walls with absolute answer to scary question.
If someone is afraid or don’t like the idea of God they call themselves an atheist.

An open-minded people would ask “Want it this God idea, and how do we test it?”

(And, hey, maybe the guy with the chainsaw DOES have bud lite.) (Sorry. Had to go there. I prefer IPA’s, myself.)

It’s wicker propelled by fire! What’s wrong with you people?

He would always try anything once, but if he didn’t like it then he’d never ever repeat the experience.

That seems like a fairly good rule of thumb to me. After all- there’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, it’s probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on … shame on you. It fool me. We can’t get fooled again.

It is not a judgment of the worth of another at all. You have a right to live and so does he until he attempts to take the life of another. In that case it is justified to defend your own life because the chainsaw dude has instigated the incident. He did so knowing that he would be subject to force to stop him and you are not responsible for the actions which need to be taken to protect yourself.

This is idiotic though. Open-minded does not mean eating raw pork when you know full well there’s a good chance it has pathogenic bacteria in it. That’s called being an idiot.

Being open minded means you are “open” to new ideas. Not that you “accept” all new ideas. Simply that you will consider them.

I like to consider myself open minded but if someone tells me to go do something idiotic I’m going to say “No, sorry, that’s stupid. I considered the idea for about a nanosecond but never figured out a non-stupid take on it.”

and I always lock my car doors – but never the doors to my home.

The open minded are the ones who try new things and insist that ‘what’s good enough for my dad ain’t good enough for me!”. Open minded people are the ones who are taking us into space.

Closed minded people aren’t the ballast on a balloon – they’re the lead weights on our ankles taking us to the bottom of the river before we have time to get our SCUBA gear on.

An open-minded person will reach out and try to understand the maniac with a chain saw, but only after he is separated from said saw and safely under restraint. The first order of business is to eliminate the threat. A closed-minded person will shoot first and not ask questions later.

An open-minded person will try that sushi, because she knows 100 million Japanese aren’t getting sick from eating it. But she’s going to cook that spinach. A closed-minded person will just go to McDonalds.

An open-minded person will lock the car doors when he parks in a strange place. A closed-minded person will not travel.