"האדם חפשי בדמיונו ואסור במושכלו"
"Man is unrestrained in his imagination and bound in his intellect." [R' Yisroel Salanter ztz"l]
I have been around now for over five decades, ב"ה. I have noticed something about people. They rarely change their way of thinking. When I talk to people I know well, they NEVER surprise me with something they say. It is exactly what they have been saying for years. Everything they hear or read goes through the filter of what they already know and believe. If it fits, then they accept it. If not - they reject it. [I heard R' Moshe ztz"l say the same thing]. When I say something, I see them thinking by taking what I say and seeing if it fits with their preconceptions. If it does then they agree, if not they disagree. The determinant of truth is what fits with what they already believe. Opinions never seem to change. Same with behaviors. The same patterns repeated thousands of times. So where the computer tells you to click the box if you are not a robot - not so fast. First ask if that is true. For all of us - it is only partially true. Much of what we do is robotic.
Some people do change their way of thinking, for example when they go through the year or two in Israel experience. Then, they cling to their newly adopted way of thinking for the rest of their lives.
To be a true learner is to be open to new ideas, even if they make one uncomfortable at first. Our metric for an acceptable idea should be whether or not it is true and not whether it makes us feel good or confirms what we already believe. Of course, I am not saying that we should be open to ideas beyond the pale, outside of our Mesorah. Chas Vi-shalom. That is assur [עי' רמב"ם הלכות ע"ז ב-ג]. But within our tradition one should certainly be open to new thoughts, new ideas, new ways of seeing things etc.
About Torah - and about life.
