**DISCLAIMER** I HAVE NOT, NOR EVER WILL, commit serious sex crimes. Things such as rape and children are inexcusable and unacceptable. This is not an all inclusive list of "serious sex crimes", nor is that the focus of this post. As for "serious sex crimes" and not "serious", I don't find illegally doing reverse cowgirl in Alabama to be "serious". Don't go getting any weird misunderstandings before you read the post.
What is an open mind? I find this question a bit ironic, as to truly understand an open mind you must first, well, have one. I have had interactions with a variety of different types of "open mind", and for my first post, I felt like sharing this. Just to share my point of view and see what others think of it. To understand what an open mind is, we must first understand what a "closed mind" is.
Much easier to explain, a closed mind is one that will not accept change of any form. In the purest form, a closed mind will have an unshakeable "understanding" of a subject. For example, the sun in the sky rises and sets, provides warmth, and is a giant ball of gases burning in the middle of our galaxy. Pretty simple, right? Science has proven this, most everyone understands and agrees. (For the sake of this post, we will not be discussing any religious aspects in relations to stay on topic). Well, you are wrong, and the sun is cold. Did you pay attention to what went through your mind when you read that? Did you agree? Did you immediately reject it as crazy or silly? If you disposed of the idea off hand without even considering it, this is a simple example of a "closed mind". A closed mind is not "open" to new ideas or thoughts, especially one that challenges a deep set worldview such as the sun being hot.
At its most simple form, an open mind is one that is able to process new thoughts, including those that challenge their worldview. The more shocking or different the new thought is from the current set worldview, the stronger the mind naturally resists. An open mind is able to overcome this instinctive reaction to directly discard the new idea. That's all an open mind at its most simple form is.
An open mind does not equal acceptance. This is an easy mistake to make, and a common reason I have seen for closed minds to remain closed. To explain easier, let us explore another example. Sex crimes. The common reaction to this word is one of rejection. Sex crimes are a terrible thing, and that's the end of that line of thought in a closed mind. Now, in an open mind, sex crimes are not all one and the same. You may have even committed one without realizing it.
If you're still here, I am impressed at your ability to be open minded and see where I am going with this. For example, a common sex crime is rape. Rape is wrong, there is no question about this whatsoever. This is a common worldview, but not the only one or we wouldn't have any rapists now would we? Another common sex crime is pedophilia, or sexual crimes involving children. These are also heavily condemned sex crimes the world over. Here's another sex crime though- reverse cowgirl in Alabama, of the United States. It's illegal, and if you've done reverse cowgirl in Alabama, you have committed a sex crime. Now, is your crime the same level of sex crime as rape or pedophilia? Reverse cowgirl is a common and well known sex position, and is only illegal in Alabama (as far as I'm aware, I do not know all laws in all places). Now, if you walk up to someone and tell them, "I've committed a sex crime" they will immediately associate you with rapists or child predators. An open mind would be able to process the information, and what happens from there is an entirely different subject. Your mind may jump to such thoughts anyway, a common response, but while a closed mind would reach such a thought and hold firm, an open mind would process the full information and then reach a conclusion.
This is a discussion post, of my thoughts on the subject matter of open and closed minds, and I welcome any thought provoking constructive comments or appreciation. I have no place for nastiness or hate here, if you are so mad at the world you must take it out on someone, take it somewhere else as it will not be me.
I may or may not get in trouble for engaging in reverse cowgirl if I ever go to Alabama..No promises.
Also, I am tired and it is late, so if my post is imperfect, please excuse me and write a comment below with your take.