"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
Aristotle, Greek philosopher
(384-322 BCE)
An intelligent mind is an open mind. Always be open to the possibility that any one idea may be wrong and never take an inclination to any preconceived ideas over someone else's simply because their ideas are not plausible. Aristotle phrases it magnificently as he is asking us all to have an open mind and be open to new ideas. Just because there is a likelihood that an idea may be wrong doesn't completely invalidate it; mull it over and be open to the risk of being wrong. Being incorrect on any certain topic is not the end of the world, just cut the losses and embrace the new found knowledge. This isn't to say, however, that any absurdity that may come out of a person's mouth should hold some weight and every single interpretation of information is correct. There is always a chance that it may be correct and that is why it must be treated with a certain degree of certainty.
Absolutes impede progress. They are
barriers which hold back the rational mind from exploring other possibilities as the
choice has been made and there is no need to explore any further. This is why
the possibility that any and all ideas have the chance of being wrong should
always be held. It is when someone is unsure whether or not something is
correct that they begin to ask questions.
A
question is a potential catalyst. All science, all progress made in society
begins with a simple question. How do magnets work? Why is the sky blue? What
is electricity? Any one of these
questions can breed a far more expansive and intricate set of questions.
Questions cause the person to think, analyze, and investigate further into the
subject at hand and that is exactly why any and all ideas must be continually
questioned.
Wow, deep man.
ReplyDeleteI agree, i think that you occasionally see this happen among judges in a trail. They are very professional and tend to be open minded to both sides of an argument, analyzing and processing the information to declare a decision. They must be able to picture both sides of the argument and speculating it, if most people were sold to the first argument, the second argument would be pointless.
ReplyDeleteJesus, this quote was, at first, very complex. But after you wrote your opinion on it I was able to find out what it meant. I believe that you were able to depict this quote at it full potential. Also I agree for what you had to say about it. An intelligent mud should be open minded and not shut down when they hear something that they disagree. But otherwise this was a good passage, great job jesus
ReplyDelete