Fair-mindedness is the ability to make judgements without prejudice or bias. It is hard for us not to
have bias – whatever about prejudice – as we see the world through the lens of our own experience and beliefs.
However, we can strive for fair-mindedness if instead of being swayed by our feelings – positive or negative – we fix our eyes on principles and make our judgements and decisions accordingly.
In this way, even if we don’t get on with somebody we won’t treat them unfairly as we will be able to look at the principle of justice instead of our own thoughts and feelings – and act accordingly.
Because as the writer, Michael Pollan puts it –
I think perfect objectivity is an unrealistic goal; fairness, however, is not.
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Related articles
- [Paul Donovan] Why prejudice is really, really bad for growth (ftalphaville.ft.com)
- The Narrow-Minded People, Dinosaurs of Human Evolution (labofevolution.wordpress.com)
- Open Minded (intractiv.wordpress.com)
- Unsure (education420.wordpress.com)
