MENTAL MODEL · M13114

Open-Mindedness

SystemsHigh supportCognitive Ability

Included

Updated 2026-08-17

Loading revision record…

INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

A disposition, central to critical thinking, in which a person actively seeks evidence and argument that challenge their existing beliefs and is prepared to revise or abandon those beliefs when the evidence warrants it. It differs from mere tolerance of other opinions: tolerance allows disagreement without examination, whereas open-mindedness requires the belief itself to be exposed to test. The distinction matters because the goal is accuracy rather than agreeableness, so open-mindedness is bounded and does not require giving equal weight to claims that evidence has already refuted. Its opposite is dogmatism, where rigidity protects the belief from any revision.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Seeking disconfirmation: Actively look for the strongest evidence against your current position before arguing for it. - Separating self from claim: Treat criticism of an idea as information about the idea, not about you. - Bounding openness: Keep revising while evidence is live, and stop revisiting claims already refuted.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Beliefs are defended by identity, so contradicting evidence triggers discomfort that gets resolved by discounting the evidence rather than the belief. Separating the belief from the self removes that threat and makes revision cheap. Actively searching for disconfirming evidence also corrects a sampling bias, because unaided attention collects confirmations that are pleasant and easy to find, so the evidence base drifts toward whatever was already believed. Willingness to update is what lets a belief track reality instead of tracking the history of holding it.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/1

Practice this model in one real situation:

State your current position and the specific evidence that would change your mind. 2. Spend ten minutes looking for the strongest case against it, not the weakest. 3. Ask someone who disagrees to explain their view, and restate it until they agree you got it right. 4. Notice the urge to defend, and treat it as a signal that identity is attached to the claim. 5. Update the position in writing, and record which evidence moved it.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

account_treeGenealogyexpand_more

menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

link
analogypkm.comhttps://analogypkm.com/experience/mental-models/zh/053_头脑开放.htmlZH · Explicit
verified

RELATED MODELS