Strong views enable people to know what you stand for. When people know what you stand for, it allows them to choose engagement or not.

Fundamentalist views are views that are closed to any possibility of change. There is no argument of any kind capable of shifting a person with a strong, closed view. 

The best evidence, the most rational argument, all fall on closed, deaf ears. 

Fundamentalism lives in every domain and every topic. From education to science to religion to exercise and diet.

Closed is closed. When there is not even a millimetre of possibility, save your breath. Work where there is light.

Being able to listen fully to another, to consider their perspective, to be open to changing a strong view is the mark of a human capable of emergence, change and development.

Loosely held gives full respect to the views of another.

It is worth doing an inventory of the places you might be closed. Why are you closed? Is this your opinion or the opinion you inherited?

Just an FYI….We all have places where we are closed.

A reminder: a closed mind often partners with righteousness.

Some beliefs and opinions are worth fighting for. But only if you have the equal ability to listen to and understand the other.

First published 5th February 2017

Photo July 9th 2025, Article written July 10th 2025