To Entertain a Thought

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

- Aristotle

{This is my goal, to consider ideas as ideas, to fully understand things (and people) I don’t agree with, to freely consider that I could be wrong, to evaluate ideas fairly regardless of where they came from. If you notice me forgetting this, please let me know.}

 

The Value of an Idea

“The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the men who express it.”
- Oscar Wilde

{I’ve always been frustrated by people who reject ideas because they don’t like where they came from. They think that if you don’t like a group, you can reject all of its ideas and positions out of hand, without really considering them.

I may not agree with Oscar Wilde about most things, but he did have a way with words, and I like this quote. We avoid projudice by evaluating people as people, not simply members of groups. In the same way, we should evaluate ideas as ideas, irrespective of who though of them first. Even someone you hate can be right about some things. To me, that’s what it means to have an open mind.}

 

The Old Man Is Always Wrong

“I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.”

- G.K. Chesterton