Sexy Ideas
Back from his trip to Hong Kong and China, Terence Chang has sexy on his mind. Joanne of The Laidback Buddhist, a.k.a. the Super High Resolution Buddhist, has, ahem, sex on her mind. And, it’s never too far away in Doug’s mind.
With all this hanky-panky in the blogosphere, maybe it’s time to sex things up. And, what is sexier than a beautiful mind?
The terms “open mind” and “closed mind” have become political fodder these days. Someone is agreeable to your ideas, well, they’re open-minded. Someone disagrees, and they’re closed-minded. Closed-minded has become the more negative accusation, being hurled at anyone that isn’t entirely open to every nut-brained idea under the sun.
But, let’s cast away those notions. Forget politics and politicians and political bloggers and all that hullabaloo! Let’s talk about genuine ideas and not the latest fad or wacky behavior.
Imagine an old woman who’s lived her whole life in the city. Never seen a wild animal other than pigeons or rats; hardly seen any animals except for cats and dogs and what ever pets friends may have had through the years. Her school years are far behind her, and she’s never seen anything more exotic than a snake, a cow or a horse.
Imagine showing her a photograph of a platypus. Would she even believe such a creature exists? You can easily imagine her arguing there was no such creature, that it was nothing more than a wolperdinger or a jackalope, that it was some fake creature cobbled together with bits and parts of other animals. You may never be able to convince her it was real.
The old woman has a closed mind.
We are all presented with ideas throughout our lives. When we think, we associate ideas with other ideas. How many times have you seen some new gadget or technology and said to yourself, Why didn’t I think of that? Often, there are old ideas put to use in a new way. Once we see them in action, it is so obvious and deviously simple that we kick ourselves for not associating the ideas first, and cashing in!
Minds that continue to freely associate ideas are open minds.
Some ideas pair off better than others. Because of that, we sometimes miss out on creating those aforementioned ideas because the pairing in our minds wasn’t so strong. We never seriously thought that these two (or more) particular ideas belonged together. But, someone else did!
Sometimes the bond between two ideas may be so strong that they are virtually inseparable. But, in an open mind, you must allow the ideas to separate so that they may more easily attach to other ideas. That doesn’t mean the original bonding isn’t still a good idea, only that the original bond should not be held at the exclusion of all others.
The old woman can’t imagine a mammal with a duck’s bill. She associates fur and hair with cats and dogs and rats and other furry animals. A beak or bill belongs on a duck or a pigeon or a goose and other feathered animals. She cannot imagine something that “belongs” on a duck being on a mammal. Therefore, her mind tells her that an animal like that cannot exist. It must be fake.
While this may be an extreme case–the platypus is certainly an unusual animal!–you can imagine it happening to lesser degrees. Sometimes we get used to things being as they have always been that we cannot imagine them otherwise. Who would want a computer in their home? What would you do with it? Computers belong in big companies. Why would a person need or want one of their own? Such was the attitude just a few decades ago. People couldn’t break the associations they had with computers. Fortunately, some people could and now you’re reading this today because of them!
Paired ideas in our minds should have open marriages. They may freely commit adultery, while still remaining committed to their idea-mate. Sexy, eh?
Let your ideas, married or not, get out there and mingle!
But, while doing so, be reminded that it’s also okay to maintain a closed mind. As I said before, forget the political mumbo-jumbo. Having a closed mind isn’t a bad thing.
Some idea-marriages are best left alone. Some ideas should not cheat on each other. They should stick with their idea-mate! For example, it would probably be a bad idea to have a TV screen in the middle of a car’s steering wheel. A truly open mind would say, Why not? A closed mind would recognize this pairing of ideas as a bad marriage that no amount of counseling would ever be able to fix.
You have to have the right balance between an open mind and a closed mind! Too open, and you come up with wacky ideas that are patently stupid. Too closed, and you’ll never make those associations between ideas that generate new ideas.
So, forget about those silly notions that a closed mind is bad and an open mind is good. The truth is that a balanced mind is best!
Awwww, now here I thought you were going to write about sex. Nothing pulls in the traffic like my delightful Category 22. (Not quite true. Cleavage pictures, that’s what pulls in the traffic.
[...] the drill — leave a comment, and Balls and I will give you a whole lotta sloppy linky lurve. Dan has some sexy ideas. Unfortunately, oral sex isn’t among them. thursday [...]
I laughed when I saw your title in my google reader.
And, I like the turn(s) of thought your post took, lols.
There is something inherently fascinating about an open mind because it indicates that the horizons are limitless, that anything can happen…can be made possible, even! I think it’s also understanding that makes an open mind so attractive to another person. I mean, to see the edge of your knowledge and then beyond it in order to accept something new (or possibly, someone new…different from yourself and what you know), to be understood is not only pretty sexy…it’s really special, too.
I see closed minds as 2 different types (haha, you can tell I’ve probably thought the matter over too much). The first kind are people who choose to remain ignorant and close-minded despite evidence to the contrary. The second kind are those who form their own opinion just because that’s the only thing they know or that’s what they were told. But then again, even children have natural curiosity about things when adults try to explain things to them. So in a sense, people who are close-minded are curbing the human nature of inherent curiosity. Hmm…so in a way, I guess there’s only 1 kind of closed mind: by choice.
And, I guess while I sometimes I can’t understand why a person would choose to keep a “closed” mind (and I often silently disapprove while indirectly trying to pokes holes in their thinking so that they may see the light, lols), I can see why someone would do so….it’s a comfort level thing for some.
You echo my thoughts about this subject. I believe close mindedness is a chosen affliction, and I do believe it is an affliction. Changes and new things can be stimulating, scary and exhilarating all at the same time…My world has been turned upside down recently by changing my career path into a completely different one that I didn’t even realize was happening at the time. New things, experiences, places and people can sometimes create opportunity as well, not just knowledge.
However, I feel that the majority of people let fear play too big a part in their lives, so much so that it paralizes them into not moving, changing or evolving.
Wow, congrats on changing your career path…that takes guts and I really admire it!
Haha, following along in the lines of Dan’s words, “The truth is that a balanced [fear] is best!”
Fear is sometimes a driving force in my life, though it’s not necessarily a good motivation or always the case. But a healthy fear can serve to make a person more aware or sensitive of his/her surroundings, or for example, how I sometimes fear I might miss out on an opportunity and so it drives me to seize it. Although, I sometimes experience self-doubt and if I’m not careful, fear could…as you said…paralyze me. In which case it’d be important to remember Dan’s Lessons of Sexy Ideas in which ideas should stick with their idea-mate!
Would you agree that by being a blogger, we’re almost predisposed to wanting to know about and subsequently being excited about the “next big thing”? Maybe as writers always piqued for inspiration we embrace new devices and technology because it could help our purpose?
Dan, this entry is now my favorite post. While the title could be misleading, I think the ideas were sexy. Playboy for an inquisitive mind.
I come from a small, rural town where many people believe that individuality is arrogant. These people also lean towards the idea that if they have not yet seen something it does not exist. Your story about the old woman and the platypus reminds me of these people.
Sometimes entire groups of people take on a close-minded perspective. They become unified in their disregard for opinions, beliefs, and facts that don’t adhere to their formula for living. These groups often pass on their narrow perspectives on to their children, most times encouraging the idea that veering from the group opinion is a logical reason to be ostracized and despised. That is where I see the greatest tragedy in a closed mind. The tragedy of disregarding others because you deny other opinions and values the opportunity to exist.