Being Open-Minded is Bad (Yes, This is Clickbait)

I can't even do clickbait correctly. It feels wrong to use it and not let people know I'm using it. So there, my feeble attempt at a clickbait title.Although it's clickbait, the title still does reflect my opinion... somewhat. Open-mindedness is often touted as a virtue that everyone should strive for. It is often conflated with tolerance, intelligence, and critical thinking. The truth is, it's sometimes the complete opposite of those things.For example, being open-minded in science is great. You've come to a conclusion based on observable evidence and either reject or fail to reject your null hypothesis. If you reject the null hypothesis, that means your experiment supports what you believed to be true. However, there still needs to be an acknowledgment that what you've observed doesn't "prove" your hypothesis to be true. It simply points to the possibility that it is true, or at the very least, doesn't prove it wrong.On the other hand, being open-minded about certain things can be disastrous. Sometimes, we have ample evidence to support that a certain practice or belief system is harmful, but people are so hung up on being "woke" that they instinctively latch on to what seems like secret or hidden knowledge. Take, for instance, the idea that vaccines cause autism. There is such an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting that vaccines don't cause autism that it is now considered not only wrong but dangerous and irresponsible to take that stance and act upon it. In fact, people who are "open-minded" to this idea have led to a resurgence in certain diseases that were nearly eradicated. Anti-vaxxers and similar conspiracy theorists have turned open-mindedness into a dogma that ironically looks the same as close-mindedness. They now will do anything to maintain their belief and have a rebuttal for every piece of evidence to the contrary, whether that rebuttal has sound supporting evidence or not.Let's not be open-minded or closed-minded. Let's be reality-minded. That is to say, let's prioritize reality first and foremost. Let's not make decisions based on feelings or wishful thinking. Let's look at the facts (ALL the facts) and make a decision based off of them. If we don't have all the facts, let's say so and practice some humility, beginning statements with phrases like "I might be wrong" or "what I've learned leads me to believe." Let's be completely willing to have our wishful thinking smashed. Let's learn to cope with and even embrace the feeling of being wrong so we can be sure that we are not being swayed by our feelings. If the other side is making an argument that you don't like and immediately want to disagree with, look at the facts about it regardless. Be open to new information, but not open to swallowing a new belief without adequate research.I can already hear the anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers. We have done our research! You're the close-minded one! If you looked at all the evidence, you'd (blah, blah, blah). And around and around we go. Both sides of any given topic tend to think they're the only ones with access to the truth. So, how do we know which side is right?For one, we need to understand that both sides might be wrong in some regards. Secondly, we need to look at how each side thinks and talks. The way a person presents their argument is highly indicative of whether or not their belief is based on real fact or on emotion. Does the person use personal attacks? Name calling? Shouting? Excessive posting of insulting memes? If this is the case, that person is probably being more emotion-based than reality-based (even if their ultimate point is correct). In my experience, the side that uses more careful, measured language, sticks to non-sensational statements, and shows humility is usually right. When we hear people saying, "If you don't believe xxx, you're a moron" or, "XXX field of study is corrupt and can't be trusted," they tend to be on the wrong side of the argument.Don't be open-minded. Don't be close-minded. Be reality-minded. Look at the facts, even if it hurts.