considering the alternative
Aristotle said that it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. I read that quote for the first time maybe three years ago. I honestly believe it changed my life. I used to get in very intense debates with family members regarding religion. I was so biased against the entire idea that I never allowed myself to consider that I could be wrong. I had arguments, and they had arguments. Though I truly believed that my arguments were stronger and backed by science, some of their arguments introduced holes in mine. Although these gaps in my arguments didn’t necessarily validate their arguments, it did give them possibility. It was only once I began considering that they too could be right, that I began having deeper more meaningful and prosperous conversations on the matter. If you can’t consider the possibility of being wrong, you forfeit the ability to understand being right.