I have glimpsed a distant feeling, one that worries me. I might not be open minded as I think. This worries me as I value learning lessons from others; understanding how you think and seeing how I might be wrong.

My favourite definition of open-mindedness so far is “ the willingness to take a novel viewpoint seriously” (Jack Kwong). Also, the definition below is fun;

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So, how can I be more open minded?

I am not sure of the best solution, but I have an idea for a game.

  1. Player 1 picks a book and assigns the book to Player 2.
  2. Player 2 reads the book.
  3. The players swap places and Goto 1.

Conditions:

  • you must have read the book you are assigning
  • the book must be easily available (preferably in a library, or cost less than $40)
  • the book must be easily readable (in English, not a textbook, not > 500 pages)

In part, this idea was inspired by a quote from 1984, “The best books… are those that tell you what you know already”. In my mind, I have rephrased this quote to: “we like/pick books that agree with us”. I am hopeful that open-mindedness is a defense against confirmation bias, our tendency to see what we want to see. I want to burst my own bubble. Pop!

Another part was inspired by my struggle (or is it universal?) to recommend books to others. When buying a book for someone, I have tried to think of a book that the unfortunate target might like, one that aligns with their values and interests. And certainly, if I were better at empathising, and actively engaged in my friends/families lives, this task would be easier, and I would have had more success. But I think there is more to be gained from reading someone else’s favourite story, the stories they tell themselves (rather than what they think I would be interested in).

And the rest is motivated by my want to force others to read books that I like. I want to share my interests with others, but often feels inappropriate to push my values onto others. How can I con people into giving my interests a chance?

Cool. My turn first! Let’s start with a low barrier to entry: a short story called The truth of fact, the truth of feeling by Ted Chiang (author of Arrival, amongst other things). You can find an online version here. If you finish it, it’s your turn, I will read a book of your choosing.