Monday, January 28, 2008

operation: open-mind!

recently i was discussing with a student how democrats/liberals [sometimes] think they are much "further along" than republicans/conservatives, and vice versa. i shared with her that, in my experience, when two people promote their thoughts/beliefs, nothing is heard if each isn't open to the other's ideas. we talked about ways to reduce self-righteous attitudes and pride in these types of discussions. ultimately, i think it comes down to one of my favorite quotes, "what i believe is not what i say believe. what i believe is what i do." meaning, i can talk about conservative/liberal ideas all i want, but if i'm not living them out, then all that exits my mouth is useless garbage.

then i realized that i talk about being "open-minded" all the time, or at least wanting to be-- but, let's face it, i'm really not [surprise]. so, i'm going to start my own project- operation: open-mind! the goal: to consciously work at being better informed on multiple viewpoints (not just the ones i currently have), combined with doing unique, random, different, and ridiculous things to promote new ways of thinking about the world around us.

to work towards my goal i went to kqed's "you decide" site and learned from multiple sides on some pretty tough questions. the intention of you decide: "to foster critical thinking around issues of national debate. nothing about these subjects is black and white. you decide activities invite you to become part of the debate through a critical exploration of the issues. in the end, perhaps you will ask different -- and better -- questions than those presented here." and it definitely did that for me.

side note: i have a huge crush on the kennedy family. my crush just bigger. caroline and ted just endorsed barack. that's a blow to hillary if i've ever seen one. yikes.

happy birthday, lori lester, you are loved.

1 comment:

lori lester said...

you are loved too emily katz! i'm so sad you're out of town this weekend...want to get dinner in palo alto some other night...i'll preten its still my birthday...