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What
does it mean to keep an 'open mind'? |
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On Keeping an Open Mind
by Ian Rowland
The notion of ‘keeping and open mind’ arises so often in the context of
psychic readings that it warrants separate discussion. Time and time again,
I have seen psychics urging commentators, clients, sceptics, TV viewers,
journalists and anyone else who will listen to ‘keep an open mind’. The
implication is that an open mind is a characteristic of the fair, the
reasonable and the intelligent. By implication, anyone who does not have an
open mind is unfair and unreasonable, and hence their views can be
dismissed. This is nonsense.
An open mind is appropriate in situations where we have no good evidence
one way or the other. Suppose I meet someone for the first time.
Should I be prejudiced about that person’s character, likeability or
integrity based on their looks or race or creed or accent or anything else?
Of course not. I should retain an open mind as to what that person is
like. They may turn out to be among the most fascinating, likeable and
charismatic people I have ever met. Or not. Time will tell.
The same applies to other facets of life. If I want to pursue a given goal,
perhaps creative or business-related, should I assume from the start that I
will never succeed and my efforts will be wasted? Not at all. It is far
better to retain an open-mind, to give it my best shot - with a positive
attitude and the corresponding positive effort - and see where I get to.
What about those involved in scientific research? Should they be making
pre-judgments about what they will, or will not, discover? Just to take one
example, will research into genetic engineering ultimately provide a cure
for cancer? An open mind is all we can have, because at the moment we just
do not know.
In all these cases, an open mind is appropriate. However, it is
inappropriate to retain an open mind in cases where there is already
plentiful evidence backing one view as against another.
Imagine you are in a plane flying at 20,000 feet (6 km). The captain of the
plane starts thinking along these lines, “Gee, everything in the history of
aeronautical science, and every experience of every airline pilot in
history, suggests that to keep this thing in the air I need to keep the
engines running. But hey, I’m going to keep an open mind. I’m going to cut
all the engines, and dump our remaining fuel. Who knows, maybe the plane
will still fly.” Do you really want that captain to keep an open mind about
this?
Or imagine you’re dining with friends at a favourite restaurant, and you
have ordered the tomato soup. Do you really want the chef to be thinking,
“Well now, everything we know about human nutrition, and every ounce of
gastronomic training I have, suggests that I should not add a large
dose of cyanide to this soup. But hey, I’m going to keep an open mind.
Maybe it will taste better, and everyone will love it.”
These are absurd examples, but only because the notion of keeping an open
mind in these circumstances is absurd. It is similarly absurd with regard
to the claims made by psychics.
Serious and devoted psychic research dates back to at least the start of the
20th century. It has been vigorously pursued all around the world, and in
some cases has been extremely well funded (in some cases courtesy of
military budgets in search of a new advantage over the enemy). This is a
lot of research, in a lot of places, over a lot of time. All this work, all
this effort and all this time has failed to deliver any good evidence
whatsoever that psychic ability exists - at least, not of the kind
allegedly manifesting itself in psychic readings.
This does not amount to proof that psychic beliefs are bogus remnants of
outmoded, irrational and superstitious models of the world we live in. But
is does amount to good reason to abandon an ‘open mind’ and to say instead
that if the believers want us to acknowledge the reality of psychic ability,
the onus is on them to prove their case. Whatever proof they provide, it
will have to consist of something that cannot equally be attributed to the
effectiveness of cold reading.
In cases where prior knowledge is available, the alternative to ‘an open
mind’ is not ‘a closed mind’. It is ‘an informed mind’. In such contexts,
any appeal to ‘keep an open mind’ is an appeal to prefer ignorance over
knowledge. This is not advisable.
Extract from: The Full Facts book of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland
(available from:
www.ianrowland.com)
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