Philosophy Now Forum

I believe this myself. How about you?

PhilX

as·sump·tion
əˈsəm(p)SH(ə)n/
noun
1.
a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof

By this definition, you'd be more open-minded. However, you'd also be prone to being wrong more often.

Dalek Prime wrote:as·sump·tion
əˈsəm(p)SH(ə)n/
noun
1.
a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof

By this definition, you'd be more open-minded. However, you'd also be prone to being wrong more often.

I disagree since you'd be less open to new or contrary ideas and thoughts.

PhilX

I think assumptions often obscure what else is and can be... so, yes, the more assumptions one holds, the less clarity and flexibility one probably has... especially when you factor in the lengths people will go to, to believe/prove themselves right.

Yes, with less assumptions, you will not be wrong more often, but less often.
The problem is that you will also be right a lot less often, because much more often your response will be "i don’t know".

I think that yes, the assumptions you hold could make you less open-minded.
But i also think that being open-minded, is to have the ability to understand and accept temporally the assumptions of the others, to see how their way of reasoning work, and if it is sound.
You could have no assumption, and be totally close minded, to take a extreme example, you could be a rock.

Would you say the more assumptions you hold, the less open-minded you would be?

If you could name just one assumption, which by having, would make you more open-minded, then you will be able to not just answer the question but also know the Truth regarding this problem.

If you hold assumptions, that doesn't necessarily mean you don't have an open mind. If you are willing to be open to changing your assumption when provided with new evidence, then you have an open mind.

You have to think about how an assumption is made and what it's origin may be. I don't think assumptions are just made willy-nilly without any proof or reason. Most assumptions are made based on previous experiences - but just a limited few experiences - hence the assumption. New experiences can override a previously held assumption.

We tend to make far more assumptions than we're typically aware of. I assume I understand your question. I assume I can address it. I assume I can write clearly enough to be understood. I assume you're honestly looking for an answer. I assume you already have your own assumptions about the answer. I assume you'll make assumptions about me based on my answer. I assume some assumptions are more highly probable than others. I assume how I relate to my existing assumptions and my attitudes toward them, are more indicative of how 'open-minded' I am than how many assumptions I make, or even how well and carefully I make them.

I assume that if I'm too open-minded I'll be gullible and easily manipulated. I assume if I'm too close-minded I'll never be able to become aware of and correct the faulty assumptions I may have already made and the errors they conceal will cause problems for me. I assume the number of assumptions I make is not directly an indication of how open-minded I am. I assume the number of assumptions I typically make far outstrips the number of assumptions I'm consciously aware of making, and outstrips the number of assumptions I have considered very carefully and critically before making them. I assume you understand and can relate to each of these very basic assumptions. I hold this last assumption very tentatively…. ;>

No.

Being open minded doesn't require being willing to believe anything at all. One can justifiably reject new information(another's ideas/thought/belief) without being closed-minded. The quantity of assumptions/beliefs that one holds does not directly affect one's open-mindedness. Rather, it's the quality of one's thought/belief that makes him/her less open-minded. While it is trivially true that the more beliefs(assumptions) one has, the less likely they are to acquire contradictory ones(ones that place the truth of their existing beliefs in doubt), that is not necessarily a bad thing - whereas being closed-minded is taken to be a bad thing.

Being open-minded is about a listener's willingness to consider novelty.

I agree with creativesoul. Openmindedness has nothing to do with assumptions. It has more to do with the ability or willingness to let go of or reject an assumption given sufficient reasonable cause or reason or evidence.

I think what I'd say is, "The more one dogmatically sticks to claims there are no good reasons to believe, especially in the face of contrary claims there are much better reasons to believe, the less open-minded one is."

Philosophy Explorer wrote:I believe this myself. How about you?

Yes. The more assumptions (presuppositions) you hold, the more layers of abstraction there are between you and what we call reality.

Example, when someone talks about an experience they had, the more they generalize, delete. and distort what else was going on vs a picture or film of what was going on at that time.

For example, from watching the film/audio of what actually happens you would not guess what the experience the person constructed in relation to that with any reliability.