Skepticism vs Open-mindeness

level
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Edited Date/Time 7/29/2015 11:31am
There are two school of thoughts and many people find a balance somewhere in between.

However, what do you think is a better way to live life?

Being skeptical and questioning everything except what you have experienced yourself or to be open minded and open to new ideas and other peoples way of doing things and thoughts?
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motosmith
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7/19/2015 9:48am
Pretty broad question. If your talking money, religion, politics, etc. I say skeptical. Things like food. Shoot, I'll give the Bison a try.

I'm raising my daughter to be skeptical. It's a dangerous world out there and I think it's a safer way to go.
philG
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7/19/2015 10:16am
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons.

As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all the way, believe only what you see with your own eyes, and everything else, always take with a pinch of salt. MSM will lie to you for fun, as will every politician, and every religion.. you cant change anything, but understand that you are lied to constantly , and live your life accordingly.

The Shop

APLMAN99
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7/19/2015 12:05pm
philG wrote:
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons. As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all...
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons.

As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all the way, believe only what you see with your own eyes, and everything else, always take with a pinch of salt. MSM will lie to you for fun, as will every politician, and every religion.. you cant change anything, but understand that you are lied to constantly , and live your life accordingly.
Neither you nor I actually saw WWII occur, so we shouldn't believe that it actually happened?
Falcon
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7/19/2015 12:28pm
Skepticism doesn't imply that you cannot or will not believe something; it simply means you require a certain level of verifiability. You can certainly live with this mind set and still be open-minded.
Being open-minded also doesn't mean you are gullible and will blindly believe anything that is presented to you.
ToolMaker
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7/19/2015 1:23pm
Why is it framed that these are our only 2 options? I consider myself "open minded" but things need to make sense for me to buy in. That doesn't mean I'm skeptical but it does make me cautious.
TM
Sandberm
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7/19/2015 6:02pm
I like to think common sense bridges the gap
h&m_cycle
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7/19/2015 6:13pm
Open minded, go ahead, huck that up hill triple on that 74 Honda SL 125...



borg
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7/19/2015 6:49pm
Falcon wrote:
Skepticism doesn't imply that you cannot or will not believe something; it simply means you require a certain level of verifiability. You can certainly live with...
Skepticism doesn't imply that you cannot or will not believe something; it simply means you require a certain level of verifiability. You can certainly live with this mind set and still be open-minded.
Being open-minded also doesn't mean you are gullible and will blindly believe anything that is presented to you.
Well said. level asked us to choose between two choices that are not mutually exclusive. You can easily be both. In fact, I would encourage everybody to be both open minded and skeptical.

It's a good topic though level. I think I see what you are prying at here.
P
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7/20/2015 5:47am
level wrote:
There are two school of thoughts and many people find a balance somewhere in between. However, what do you think is a better way to live...
There are two school of thoughts and many people find a balance somewhere in between.

However, what do you think is a better way to live life?

Being skeptical and questioning everything except what you have experienced yourself or to be open minded and open to new ideas and other peoples way of doing things and thoughts?
Being open-minded will probably lead to a happier life, but there are a couple of caveats to that. You have to use good common sense, meaning that you can't just blindly do everything that is "new" to you, and you have to have a strong sense of self.

That may be the same as booth.........


P
philG
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7/20/2015 12:56pm
philG wrote:
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons. As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all...
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons.

As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all the way, believe only what you see with your own eyes, and everything else, always take with a pinch of salt. MSM will lie to you for fun, as will every politician, and every religion.. you cant change anything, but understand that you are lied to constantly , and live your life accordingly.
APLMAN99 wrote:
Neither you nor I actually saw WWII occur, so we shouldn't believe that it actually happened?
No , but how it started any why it happened are a good enough place to start on why you shouldnt believe what you are told.

dirtnapper
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7/20/2015 3:32pm
Wow! Totally surprised that idiot the_wood hasn't chimed in with a long drawn out monolog of complete uselessness ........this seems to be something he would be an expert in......Pinch


For me, definitely skepticism. My wife says I'm like that to a fault. I absolutely don't believe everything I hear in the news for one......
APLMAN99
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7/20/2015 7:01pm
philG wrote:
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons. As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all...
As far as experiences for yourself go, open minded, do stuff , try stuff, broaden your horizons.

As far as anything else goes , Skepticism all the way, believe only what you see with your own eyes, and everything else, always take with a pinch of salt. MSM will lie to you for fun, as will every politician, and every religion.. you cant change anything, but understand that you are lied to constantly , and live your life accordingly.
APLMAN99 wrote:
Neither you nor I actually saw WWII occur, so we shouldn't believe that it actually happened?
philG wrote:
No , but how it started any why it happened are a good enough place to start on why you shouldnt believe what you are told.

But you weren't there to see what started it or why it happened........

Fact is, you DO believe what you are told, if you want to. Whether it's because it fits into your preconceived ideas or some other reason, we all choose to believe huge amounts of things that we'll never be able to witness ourselves.
JPT
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7/21/2015 7:56am Edited Date/Time 7/21/2015 7:59am
Trust and verify. Don't be so worried you might get fooled you become cold hearted.
FreshTopEnd
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7/21/2015 10:55am
Open mindedness begins with being most skeptical of your own self.
watson
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7/21/2015 11:00am
dirtnapper wrote:
Wow! Totally surprised that idiot the_wood hasn't chimed in with a long drawn out monolog of complete uselessness ........this seems to be something he would be...
Wow! Totally surprised that idiot the_wood hasn't chimed in with a long drawn out monolog of complete uselessness ........this seems to be something he would be an expert in......Pinch


For me, definitely skepticism. My wife says I'm like that to a fault. I absolutely don't believe everything I hear in the news for one......
I think he's a pretty articulate dude and his reasoning seems to be grounded in the concrete. Just because your beliefs differ/you don't actually read what the other person has to say doesn't mean it's useless.

Like it's been said before in this thread, they aren't mutually exclusive concepts. I tend to employ a ton of skepticism in business/scholastic affairs, but try to be open-minded as possible with people/experiences outside of those realms. Not everyone can find peace in what I believe (Athiest), but absolutely everyone benefits from having an open mind.
philG
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7/21/2015 1:18pm
APLMAN99 wrote:
Neither you nor I actually saw WWII occur, so we shouldn't believe that it actually happened?
philG wrote:
No , but how it started any why it happened are a good enough place to start on why you shouldnt believe what you are told.

APLMAN99 wrote:
But you weren't there to see what started it or why it happened........ Fact is, you DO believe what you are told, if you want to...
But you weren't there to see what started it or why it happened........

Fact is, you DO believe what you are told, if you want to. Whether it's because it fits into your preconceived ideas or some other reason, we all choose to believe huge amounts of things that we'll never be able to witness ourselves.
Well obviously the ability to time travel aside, you have to decide yourself what you believe is the most likely turn of events based on the evidence. Everyone has an event in their lives that challenges their beliefs, and that is usually pivotal in how they come to think about things in the future.

My line of work is based on my skepticism , anything that can be wrong , will be wrong at some point, and the skill is finding that, either by method before the fact, or investigation after , and pretty much every time you find something that is wrong , its always down to someone not following a procedure , and not doing what they are suppose to have done. That makes you approach everything a certain way, which is that as trustworthy as people may appear to be, when it comes down to it , a lot will lie to cover there tails when their neck is on the line.

Apply that to world events, and when you see how much certain people have to gain by spinning things a certain way, to benefit themselves , and those around them , it will always happen.

What you have to do is decide for yourself who has a vested interest in making stuff happen for gain... there are no coincidences in making huge money, follow it , and when it is made , and you will have the answer to an awful lot of questions that most folk are too busy following The Kardashians to even know about.
FreshTopEnd
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7/21/2015 1:40pm
It also pays to keep straight that cynicism is not the same thing as wisdom, and potentially deceitful in its own right.
philG
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7/21/2015 2:00pm
It also pays to keep straight that cynicism is not the same thing as wisdom, and potentially deceitful in its own right.
Agreed.. Wisdom, is sometimes admitting to yourself that you dont know something and probably never will .

FreshTopEnd
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7/21/2015 2:38pm
Sounds a little more like wisdom's cousin, humility, but yup. You rarely find one without the other.
hillbilly
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7/21/2015 3:47pm
Are you skeptical or open minded that if just half a baby's head is crowning its ok to crush and toss in the "sell for Lamborghini fund" cooler.??
mxenthusiast
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7/21/2015 6:33pm
I assume every person talking to me is a liar, until proven otherwise. My Dad is the same way, my Mom thinks that is a horrible way to live. I have found this line of thinking keeps me out of trouble almost all the time. Its not that I hate all people, I just don't believe a word they say until I find out they are trustworthy.
borg
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7/22/2015 9:11am
I assume every person talking to me is a liar, until proven otherwise. My Dad is the same way, my Mom thinks that is a horrible...
I assume every person talking to me is a liar, until proven otherwise. My Dad is the same way, my Mom thinks that is a horrible way to live. I have found this line of thinking keeps me out of trouble almost all the time. Its not that I hate all people, I just don't believe a word they say until I find out they are trustworthy.
"Liar" is a bit strong. It is true though that so many people, even experts, are full of shit. I don't consider all BS to be a lie. Most of the time I ignore it unless I have to make some sort of decision. I have been given misinformation, SOOOO many times that I have become cynical.

An example: I bought some brake pads the other day. The kid that rang me up told me to bring my old ones in and I would get a full refund because they have a lifetime guarantee. Now I knew he was full of shit but I wasn't going to argue with him about it and I'm not going to waste my time taking the old worn out pads back either. Retail clerks can be pretty bad. Especially at places like Home Depot. Their compulsion to give you an answer far outweighs their humility.
hvaughn88
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7/22/2015 9:14am
I assume every person talking to me is a liar, until proven otherwise. My Dad is the same way, my Mom thinks that is a horrible...
I assume every person talking to me is a liar, until proven otherwise. My Dad is the same way, my Mom thinks that is a horrible way to live. I have found this line of thinking keeps me out of trouble almost all the time. Its not that I hate all people, I just don't believe a word they say until I find out they are trustworthy.
borg wrote:
"Liar" is a bit strong. It is true though that so many people, even experts, are full of shit. I don't consider all BS to be...
"Liar" is a bit strong. It is true though that so many people, even experts, are full of shit. I don't consider all BS to be a lie. Most of the time I ignore it unless I have to make some sort of decision. I have been given misinformation, SOOOO many times that I have become cynical.

An example: I bought some brake pads the other day. The kid that rang me up told me to bring my old ones in and I would get a full refund because they have a lifetime guarantee. Now I knew he was full of shit but I wasn't going to argue with him about it and I'm not going to waste my time taking the old worn out pads back either. Retail clerks can be pretty bad. Especially at places like Home Depot. Their compulsion to give you an answer far outweighs their humility.
There's really only one brand of brake pads you should be buying:



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