Open vs Closed: Why it’s better to keep a closed mind

We live in a culture that is all about open-mindedness. The definition for being open-minded literally means: “willing to consider new ideas’’. But what about if you don’t want to consider new ideas? What is so wrong with being firmly fixed with a notion or opinion? Absolutely nothing that is what, regardless of what society will try and tell you, there is nothing wrong with being closed minded, in fact being closed minded can be a lot more beneficial and productive and actually open you up to a world of possibilities.

The older I have got the more closed minded I have become. I know exactly what I like and don’t like, I know precisely what I want and don’t want and ultimately I am able to make better and more effective decisions that benefit me because I am not wasting my time in second guessing a choice and searching aimlessly for other options. Being closed minded has allowed me to adapt a fixed tone, it has allowed me to forge an identity and ultimately it has allowed me to just be me.

It’s not always bad to be closed minded despite what society will tell you, especially towards ideas which are easily demonstrated to be false or foolish. And in a debate, the first person who says, “You’re just being closed minded,” isn’t automatically the winner, they may just have run out of facts. Being closed minded equals facts, it equals being certain when others around you are just unsure.

Opened minded people tend to see the world and people through rose tinted colours, everything is wonderful and everyone is lovely. Opened minded people tend to put themselves on some sort of noble pedestal, looking down upon closed minded people with disregard and intolerance.

In an ironic twist, opened minded people are themselves closed minded for the unwillingness to accept the mind of closed minded people who ultimately have a fixed opinion or view and are sticking to what they believe in. Remember, the grass is not always greener on the other side, and closed minded people are perfectly aware of that.

The pressure to conform, the pressure to be just like them ‘’You should learn to be more open minded’’ they will screech from the top of their lungs, when in reality just because you don’t share their view or opinion you are felt to be made inferior, sometimes even stupid, for having a fixed position on a view that cannot be moved. I don’t want to be moved, I am standing right here, and I’m not going anywhere.

I feel that closed minded people are a lot more realistic and aware of their surroundings and a lot more logical in their thinking. Openness is seemly linked with creativity but as a closed minded published writer I would have to disagree profusely with that statement, I can write about subjects I am passionate about because I have a firm and fixed view and can express myself whole heatedly to that particular opinion. The other prospective is not normally the best prospective anyway, on the contrary, it is normally the weakest.

When it comes to dating, being closed minded has helped me tremendously. There is nothing worse than seeing etched as a headline on a potential dates profile ‘I am open minded’. To me that indicates they have absolutely no idea what they are looking for, and whatever it be a long term romantic endeavour or a one-night stand they would be fulfilled either way. Being closed minded I know precisely what I want and what type of person I wish to date, if you cannot provide that for me than you will be cut from the potential bachelor list just as quickly as I first laid eyes on you. I don’t have time for games, I don’t have time for false promises and I don’t have time to be open minded to nonsense and gibberish.

Being closed minded allows me to make quicker and more logically based decisions that ultimately benefit me. In a society that is constantly on the go, I do not have time to sit around contemplating whatever I like someone or not, being closed minded allows me to quickly filter people, situations and scenarios based on my closed mind to disregard them or not.

People tend to see closed minded people as simply stubborn and lacking the ability the see other options, however, I’ve been to the other side and I’ve seen the other options and quite frankly I don’t like them. Being open minded only tends to benefit others around me, and it certainly does not benefit me, and in the end it is me and only me that will make these decisions and that is one thing I can be utterly sure of.