Being Open-minded

In my experience, the people who claim to be the most tolerant are actually the least open to ideas that oppose what they believe in, while those that are considered to be closed-minded are quite receptive. That is why I feel compelled to post some guidelines that I feel are necessary to follow in order to be open-minded:

• Whether you believe it exists or not, assume that someone on the other side has a logical argument for that position. The majority of people may have formed opinions based on hearsay or other non-logical foundations, but that doesn't mean everyone's an idiot.
  
• Stay informed. Read a lot of news from a variety of different sources.
  
• Don't form opinions until you feel you have examined each argument for/against the issue at hand in depth. When engaged in conversation/debate, keep in mind that you may have missed something.
• Realize that even though you feel strongly about something, not everyone feels the same way. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinions, no matter how stupid they may seem to you.
  

At the same time, being open-minded does not mean you have to adopt the other side's position if they are passionate or believe themselves to be correct. You just need to be willing to listen to and consider every angle.