   I ran out of time to share this while Wisdom was the topic, but it’s such an integral and important concept I’ve opted to throw it out there now anyhow. The idea is what simple wisdom might refer to as “keeping an open mind”, but in reality it’s a skill so much more vital and complex than that phrase allows.
~5 Minute Read
   In ‘History of Western Philosophy‘ Russell nails this idea on its head:
   “In studying a philosopher, the right attitude is neither reverence nor contempt, but first a kind of hypothetical sympathy, until it is possible to know what it feels like to believe in his theories, and only then a revival of the critical attitude, which should resemble, as far as possible, the state of mind of a person abandoning opinions which he has hitherto held. Contempt interferes with the first part of this process, and reverence with the second.   Two things are to be remembered: that a man whose opinions and theories are worth studying may be presumed to have had some intelligence, but that no man is likely to have arrived at complete and final truth on any subject whatever. When an intelligent man expresses a view which seems to us obviously absurd, we should not attempt to prove that it is somehow true, but we should try to understand how it ever came to seem true. This exercise of historical and psychological imagination at once enlarges the scope of our thinking, and helps us to realize how foolish many of our own cherished prejudices will seem to an age which has a different temper of mind.”
‘Critical thinking’ (as it’s known as academically) is essential for evaluating complex ideas and weighing the opinions of others, but it is also a priceless life-skill. By relying purely on our pre-existing pictures of the world to place the information we receive, as most do, not only do you prevent yourself from genuinely understanding (sympathising, connecting with) those you communicate with, but moreover, you prevent your perspective from ever being able to truly grow– to ‘transcend’ its current limitations and proceed onto a more rewarding and affirming awareness. As far as I see it, the latter is precisely the karmic punishment for the closed-minded and destructive among us: that in their refusal to learn to be better and kinder, they are unable to grow and experience what it’s like to live in kindness, with loved ones and in a positive environment.
   With the former – the inability to genuinely connect to others’ through their perspectives – it is all too easy to forget that everyone does what they do, for a good reason: nobody does anything thinking it’s a really bad idea, it is only through understanding that bad ideas become apparent. We look down on criminals and the ignorant, because we ‘cannot see’ how they make the decisions they do, all the while oblivious to the fact that we would do exactly the same, in their shoes (with their understanding).
The only thing standing between you and those you judge, is how you’ve learned to see the world.
Never come across this quote from Russell! Not someone I’d usually associate with open mindedness
Hah, I haven’t got enough experience with his stuff to judge his personality to be fair, but from what I’ve read he was something of a razor. going by his political activism, being arrested et al., I get the impression he would have simply been extremely clear on what he believed, but I’ve never interpreted him as closed-minded.