use Perl

• Careful definition of 'closed' required (Score:2, Insightful)

  by quidity (1296) on 2002.02.15 22:11 (#4614) Homepage Journal

  Perhaps it's better to think carefully about what it means to be closed minded about something, in this case astrology. You can take the position that yes, there is something we and armies of scientists don't know about and astrology is never the less true, or you can take the position that no, there are no grounds to the claims that astrology makes and it is not.

  Of course, you then need to ask which of those two positions is closed minded? Is it more open minded to believe something to be true, or to accept that someone claims something is true and then subject those claims to rigorous tests? The first position is, to all intents and purposes, contained within the second. Both require consideration of the idea, but only one extends as far as a decision as to its veracity.

  Reply to This

  • Re:Careful definition of 'closed' required (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Ovid (2709)

    I hope you don't take this personally. I don't mean it that way!

    quidity wrote:

    You can take the position that yes, there is something we and armies of scientists don't know about and astrology is never the less true, or you can take the position that no, there are no grounds to the claims that astrology makes and it is not.

    As a rule of thumb, I rarely, if ever, take either position when I encounter a new subject. I start asking a question: "does a particular belief make testable assertions?" In th
    • Re:Careful definition of 'closed' required (Score:1)

      by chaoticset (2105)

      Maybe I'll come back later and just delete all of this :(

      I'd rather you didn't, myself. Just an opinion.

      A feedback loop exists within many of these people that merely reinforces whatever they happen to believe. Nothing escapes their framework, and nothing could possibly contradict it. Everything is because of X, or X's effects.

      So you say, "But what effect is it that causes this? How does it work? How can X cause this?"

      And internally they go, "X told me to expect doubting people today!" whether

      --
      
      ------------------------------
      You are what you think.
  • Re:Careful definition of 'closed' required (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pudge (1)

    What I think is closed-minded has nothing to do with whether you believe in astrology or not. It has to do with why you don't believe it, and what you think about people who do or don't believe it.
    
    Example: If you think people who do believe in astrology are morons, then you are probably closed-minded, because you probably haven't really been able to get inside someone's head to know why they believe in astrology. Simply believing it is bunk is fine; chances are that you've been able to weigh it with som