Open-Mindedness

I think the opposite of “open-mindedness” is, in a word, stasis. I mean this as doing, thinking, and believing the same things, in the same way, day after day. A strategy to avoid stasis would be to constantly challenge oneself. Embrace the uncomfortable and the unknown. Actively seek situations where your knowledge and experience isn’t enough. Then, use these difficult circumstances to expand your thoughts, actions and beliefs. Discover a new way of doing something, approaching a decision and solving a problem. Doing this will open our minds to new solutions and greater understanding.

Curiosity

I think curiosity is best thought of as an attitude, or an approach to how an individual conducts his or her life. To me, curiosity is a strong desire to know or learn something such that it causes us to act on this desire. I think curiosity is required for critical thinking because it makes us take the next step beyond action-less contemplation. It forces us to consider alternatives and understand new concepts with the hopes that we can eventually assimilate those new ideas into our existing mental schema. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but curiosity is the fuel that drives the process.