[What does it mean to be "open minded"?]

Obviously, some evaluations can be made quicker than others.  Are you dismissing these instances outright without objective evaluation?  Or, do you objectively evaluate enough information to determine why you don't like the experience or phenomenon?  The latter would be being "open-minded".  Can you rationally assert to the allegedly open-minded person WHY you think punk is immoral?  That may show who is actually ignorant and who is truly open-minded.

Yes, I do objectively consider an experience or idea before I dislike it. Dismissing something like that without valid evidence or facts WOULD be ignorant. I can honestly say that I do not like the punk culture for example, because I have tried to understand it. Now, I'm not saying I've never done an ignorant thing, I have, and quickly learned from that mistake by accepting the real truth of what I was trying to dismiss so quickly. I am "open minded" enough to try to understand something I know nothing about. For example, my girlfriend loves piercings. I don't understand a lot of the things she talks about when she mentions what piercing she would like to get. That's why I've asked, "What is a lebret (or however it's spelled)?" I don't despise piercings simply because I don't know what a lot of them are, what the procedures are for them, and so on. But I do try to understand it, which helps me accept it along with my judgment. I guess the main thing that irritates me about the open minded philosophy is that even if I understand something and reject it as something I dislike, that very rejection of something I don't want in my life makes me closed minded.

[What does it mean to be "open minded"?]

Okay, lately, this idea that people throw around called "being open minded" has been irritating me. There are certain people I don't like, for example, Punks. So, if I happened to say, "I think punks are immoral," I'm immediately hit with, "That's ignorant, you should be open minded enough to understand their culture." Lately, that's really been bothering me. And it's not just with Punks either, it's with nearly any idea or culture I happen to dislike. I'm continually called ignorant, closed minded, and all kinds of other things. And, to be perfectly honest, I can't fully understand why this "Open Minded" phenomenon is irritating me so much. At first I thought it was altruism, then realized that when people say open minded, often times they're not really talking about groups of people. They're usually talking about new experiences, new ideas, things like that. That still irritates me deeply however. So, I'm hoping that some of you can help me fully understand why I don't like this "Open Minded" idea. What are some of your thoughts on it?

[Am I being a hypocrite?]

Betsy, thank you for taking the time to really help me with my problem. I know it's been quite awhile since I've even visited this forum since I posted here, but I've been a little too busy. I have however, thought about what you said. I have all my own answers now, and I've shared them with my girlfriend. I won't put the answers on here, I don't think I was really supposed to anyway, but thank you for reminding me of "So what?"

[Am I being a hypocrite?]

I appreciate the comment, really. And you may be right that my finding the aimless driving incredibly irritating is weird. I had to ask because when she presented the idea that I might be wrong about that, it seriously bothered me and made me question a lot of other things about myself. Which only irritated me more. And this discussion led us from a simple thing such as driving versus games, to us talking about how a lot of things that irritate me, apply to her. I suppose that doesn't really matter though, I can solve the "irritations apply to her" on my own, but I was seriously confused as to whether or not I was being a hypocrite, I appreciate the comment MinorityOfOne. Thanks.

[Am I being a hypocrite?]

Okay, I'm not sure entirely sure if what I'm about to say will make any sense at all, I can only try. I recently had a discussion with my girlfriend about a lot of the things I see during my day that irritate me. She understood most of them, except for one. When people drive around in their cars all night, especially teenagers, as a form of entertainment. For a reason I was unable to explain to her properly, that really irritates me. I told her I found it to be a waste of time, that driving up and down the same road in your car for hours on end was an extremely non-productive activity. It had no purpose in my opinion. And to use a line from Atlas Shrugged, the most depraved type of person is the one who has no purpose. That made her extremely angry, and she brought up something I hadn't thought of. I play video games quite a bit, which is also an extremely unproductive thing to do. She said that there wasn't really any difference between me playing video games and the people who drive around all night. They were both unproductive forms of entertainment. Now, I can see her point on that, and I am ready to admit that she's right. But, for some reason, I needed the opinion of some other people on this. Am I wrong? Am I being a hypocrite for saying that driving around in your car with no destination is worse than sitting around moving your thumbs in order to play a game? I'm honestly stuck here, even though it's really a simple thing. Am I being a hypocrite?