I often think about how quick we are to dismiss things we don’t immediately understand.
Not long ago, I started listening to The Telepathy Tapes. At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me was curious, part of me skeptical, but I’m always ready to learn with an open mind. What surprised me most was how we are conditioned to filter new ideas through a lens of “prove it” before we allow ourselves to even experience it.
We live in a world that values certainty, evidence, and logic. Those things matter. But I’m starting to see that they can also quietly limit us.
Most people don’t actually struggle with understanding new ideas. They struggle with allowing themselves to explore them in the first place.
There’s a huge difference between listening to evaluate/judge and listening to understand.
When I listen to evaluate, I’m asking:
- Is this true?
- Do I agree with this?
- Where are the flaws?
But when I listen to understand, the questions shift:
- What is this trying to show me?
- What if this were possible?
- What does this stir in me?
That shift changes everything.
Being open-minded isn’t about believing everything. It’s about being willing to entertain something without immediately shutting it down. It’s about creating space between hearing and judging.
Most people never create that space.
Instead, they hear something unfamiliar and immediately categorize it:
- “That’s impossible.”
- “That’s nonsense.”
- “That’s not proven.”
And just like that, the door closes.
But what if the goal isn’t to decide right away?
What if the goal is simply to stay in the question a little longer?
~ 8 Journal Prompts ~
- When I encounter an idea that challenges my beliefs, what is my immediate reaction—and why?
- Do I tend to listen to understand, or to respond and evaluate? In what situations does this show up most?
- What is something I once thought was impossible or unlikely that I now accept as real or plausible?
- How comfortable am I with uncertainty? What emotions come up when I don’t have clear answers?
- Where in my life might skepticism be protecting me—and where might it be limiting me?
- What would it look like for me to explore an idea without needing to believe or disprove it right away?
- Who or what has influenced the boundaries of what I consider “possible”? Are those boundaries still serving me?
- If I allowed myself to be more open, what am I afraid might change?
