Blake Brantley - Spiritual Rambling

 "Familiarity often produces complacency if we take the accustomed constituents of our milieu for granted. We no longer engage the world as a curious child whose hunger for discovery and thirst to find meaning brings life even to the common milieu" (Kip). As humans get older, they begin to gain more life experiences and form stronger opinions on matters. From the endless curiosity we have as children to how closed off most adults are to new information against their own beliefs, humans are devolving in a sense. Should we constantly be open to new ideas and always incorporate new ideas into our existing opinions? Not necessarily. Although we should remain open to new ideas, that doesn't not mean we need to accept them. The problem only results when we don't even give others the change to express their view and explanations for those views. Although it is important to stay true to own's core beliefs and look at all evidence logically, if we are never willing to change our opinions, how do we expect for the world to change if we can't even change. How important is it that adults constantly revisit their opinions and are willing to listen to new ideas? Where has this stagnation in beliefs caused problems in the world? It is necessary for adults to bring out their inner child and think about what the other person is saying and why they might be saying that. Problems have arisen in large scale events such as politics but also in daily life through miscommunication. How many times have people been arguing just to realize they have been saying the same thing all along? By not truly listening to the other person and just thinking of comebacks, the argument serves no purpose. If neither person in an argument is willing to change their point of view, there is no need for the argument in the first place. In order to change the world, whether it be for the better or worse, people need to start actually listening to each other and revaluating their stances.