The Virtue of Openness
Openness has several facets, but all are rooted in the same two principles: embracing your own fallibility and embracing diversity.
Secularists, being human, are as prone as anyone to cling stubbornly to our opinions once they’re established. Openness includes recognizing our own fallibility: No matter how thoroughly we have examined a question, we could still be wrong. The best way to avoid being wrong is to keep our opinions and ideas open to challenge and potential disconfirmation.
The other principle—which often goes by the awful name of “tolerance”—is the very fundament of liberal philosophy. A student in an honors seminar once asked me to define the difference between liberalism and conservatism in a few words—one of the best questions I’d heard in fifteen years. I stared at the floor for what seemed like an hour, then was struck by what I still believe is a darn good answer: The key distinction is the attitude toward difference.
Notes:
The best way to avoid being wrong is to be open to ideas that challenge us.
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Seven Secular Virtues: Humility, Empathy, Courage, Honesty, Openness, Generosity, and Gratitude