Open and Tolerant: MBL's Juergen Reis on Listening, Measurements, and (Un)Certainty

[ozthepoz]

Being open minded is great if there’s something to be open minded about. Would you be open minded about ‘intelligent design’? I know I wouldn’t: it’d be a complete waste of mental effort.

So to persuade me that open mindedness is the right attitude, I’d need to be shown some genuine evidence that demonstrates there’s a genuine debate to be had. And in the case of audio, there’s one really good way to produce evidence: do properly controlled double-blind ABX testing.

If Herr Reis were to state with hand on heart that he’d done properly controlled double-blind ABX testing with positive results, and if he were willing to stake his professional reputation on it, then I’d listen.

To my mind this is what it really means to be open minded.

Being Open Minded is actually, according to many theories of psychology, one of the core pillars of personality. In Myers-Briggs language it's called Intuitive, and in the five-factor model (the dominant personality theory at the moment) it's expressed as openness to new experiences.

So, some people are naturally open-minded, while others are more naturally sceptical - preferring to trust what they know. 

Neither approach is wrong, just an illustration of how we are all different. It's evident on this board (and others) how this plays out in some of the discussions, and a reminder why it's important to be respectful when commenting. 

Psychology lesson over   The important thing I got from the article was trust your ears and enjoy the music!!