It's not a door when it's a jar

What's an open mind? Is it a good thing?

I've been pondering, beacuse a friend of mine posted a video from some wacky conspiracy nut on Facebook, with the comment "closed minded people, don't even bother.

Now I regard myself as someone with a pretty open mind. At the same time, I'm fairly secure in what I know and what I understand to be true - all life on the planet evolved from a single life form which existed billions of years ago, vaccines provide vital protection for children against disease, Leyton Orient's defence is far too leaky to even hope for a chance of making the League 1 playoffs, that sort of thing.

So I'll listen to arguments that make sense to me, or at least come from a rational perspective. I won't give the time of day, though, to people trying to tell me that the Earth was created by some omniscient being 6,000 years ago. It doesn't fit, it's unnecessary, I don't need to open my mind for it.

If I gave equal time to every argument that is thrown at me, I'd barely have time to think, let alone decide what to believe. There's got to be some kind of filter. For me that filter tends to be words like "God", or "pro-life". Mention those in your argument, and you've just invalidated yourself.

I keep my mind open, but not that open. Just ajar. So I know what to let in, and when to slam the door shut.