- The British philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that being open to the ideas of others could actually lead you to reaffirm your own ideas with greater confidence. If you simply hold an idea without having thought of it, your justifications for it may be weak. If, however, you listen to new ideas -- and seriously consider them -- you may come to find new and better reasons for the ideas you already hold.
- Being open to new ideas helps to maximize the chance that you will develop your own creative disposition. New ideas help change the way you think about certain issues, so while the new idea may not necessarily be useful, compelling or accurate, it may change your way of thinking about certain issues and phenomena, enhancing your own critical and problem-solving skills.
- Being open to new ideas also helps you find actual solutions to challenging or seemingly intractable dilemmas or problems. No one person has a monopoly on truth or knowledge, so being open to new ideas means also being open to novel solutions introduced by others. By engaging in discussion in an open way, new ideas can be brought to bear on old problems. Political phenomena are a great example of this principle: While a single individual may fail to see how a social program can be improved, a task force or committee, open to new ideas, can come to find solutions.
- While being open to new ideas can help you develop your own critical thinking and assist you in discovering solutions to challenging problems, such openness is also conducive to building goodwill and partnerships. Let's face it: Nobody likes a person who refuses to listen to others and insists that he or she is right, regardless of differing opinions or arguments. Such openness to alternative ideas and ways of thinking makes the development of partnerships or even friendships more likely.
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