People who like animes are more open minded?

[Aoie_Emesai]

Well... I'll change the title accordingly if needed. (unless someone post too fast, since then I can't no more) (I'll add a poll, just in case someone complain about it and add some later with a mod's help if needed)

No sources for this too >.<

One of my favorite site is down at the moment and I found an article on it and it got me thinking and I found it to be true to a point. When I first started anime about umm... 4-5 years ago, back when I was in the 10th grade; Yup, i'm not that old. I was pretty grossed out by what I saw in some anime, but as grew with each and every anime, I rather became nulled by them and didn't really cared anymore, but I still live on my morals. Lolicon, yada yada yada, pretty much it involves the adult section of anime and the morals and social ethics that revolves around it, since some of them can get pretty explicit at times.

Pretty much the question is -" Are the people who watch and involve some of their life with anime more open minded?"

My opinion on it - Yes to a point. Like stated earlier, when I first started it was strange to me, weird crap happening everywhere, fudged up creature in every single anime (5ish years later, I still hold that true to today ^_^). Anime it self is a medium for distributing a creators ideas and thought into a viewable format, in which we call "anime." It conveys a whole variety of ideas and all if not most genres, involving most fields of human thinking from Engineering, Science, Politics, Social Issues, Fashion, Psychology, Creative thinking, most important of all *music* and many more that I don't wish to list. I participate in a political debate thread myself, which I do enjoy debating on moral ethics, foreign affairs and crappy US political figures & their social issues.
Has involving myself in anime made a more intelligent person? Mostly likely, and would I still have became this way without anime? Probably not. I'll probably would have become a bum like my brother or some of my idiotic friends who i feel know absolutely jack squat. From my point on view, anime hasn't really brought my any trouble rather than a budget increase.

I learned Photoshop, just cause I wanted to create better signatures. I started drawing, cause I also wanted to express myself to the world with my pictures, but I'm still a crappy novelist. I did watch the "Educational Television" programs like the Science channels stuff till we lost Direct TV about a week ago, so it's streaming for me now.

I guess I came at a great time too, since the 80s generation was the generation of the Internet.

[Ledgem]

I used to feel that anime fans were the best people in the world. But then, I was younger, socially awkward, and becoming an extreme anime fan. Over a short period of time I began noticing that there were anime fans who were far from perfect, nice people, and you didn't need to dig all that hard to find them.

I don't think anime fans are terribly different from other people, except that many of them reject their own cultures and aspire to the Japanese and/or other Asian cultures. This makes some of them come off as a bit strange.

I've felt inspired by certain anime series, but I've also discussed some series with others and noticed that they don't really come away with concepts that they take outside of the series. Sure, a message from the series may get across, but these people don't necessarily take it to heart, or give it a great amount of thought.

So now I consider anime nothing more than a more interesting entertainment medium, and as someone who doesn't watch TV, read fiction, or get into other forms of escape for lack of time and interest, that says a fair bit I suppose.

Anime fans are just regular people, bound together by a common interest. Not terribly different from any other hobbyist group, in my opinion.

[Cheezy]

Watching anime may give me some inspiration when writing some story for school or somenthing. Nothing else, really.

[Iambankai]

Well, as just said before - Anime inspires people.
I once tried to make a Ramen from Naruto, without knowing much about what the ingredients was, I just put some tomatoes, boiled eggs (I am not exactly sure what it is called in english), and some green stuff :p (without meat, because was too excited to make meat and wait for it). It tasted pretty good, but I felt it hurted my chest, so that was it... at least I got a picture of it, that I might post here later on, (or just never). Was quite fun through :)
Also, after seeing/reading anime/manga I learned quite more about the Japanese/Chinese culture etc.

After reading some Conan volumes and seeing the Death Note episodes, I got inspired to be more critical, and think about stuff, also be better to solve mysteries :)

''Do you think people who likes anime are more open minded?''
''I think so''... that's what I'm saying :D

[KholdStare]

I picked "not really", because I personally think that more than 50% of all anime is targeted towards the 8-14 age range. I don't disagree that some anime are wonderful and makes me more open-minded, but they're still not the majority, therefore, I don't completely disagree but don't completely agree. I myself as well as probably a lot of people in this community have watched all the "good" anime, so I will say that anime has made me open-minded.

[felix]

@ Iambankai
Inspire? It's just food for thought. Accepting it as inspiration means accepting being brain washed by your Tv/Comp. Written words are the only things which can inspire people, in a good way.

Back to the topic...
No not really. There's no basis for such a statement.
Liking anime (or let's say not disliking) is more of childish trait just like watching movies, playing video games etc. There's nothing wrong with it, and there's nothing special either. To label anime fans as open minded is the same as proving every geometric shape with more then one side is a circle.

Statistics would support it, since most anime fans seem to be always searching for something else but the things which surround them, but is that being open minded or just being weird? Personally, I like to indulge in the idea that anime fans are more explorer-driven.

[Demongod86]

In my experiences, most anime fans, if I didn't know that they were anime fans, I would not come near with a 100 meter pole. We're really talking, in most cases, people you absolutely did not want to be caught dead with. They are certainly not the most beautiful, nor the most intelligent either. Yes, there are some great anime fans out there, and I know a few myself, but for the most part, if you're a hardcore Otaku, I would prefer you stayed away from me.

You may have different experiences, but these are mine.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Back to the topic...
No not really. There's no basis for such a statement.
Liking anime (or let's say not disliking) is more of childish trait just like watching movies, playing video games etc. There's nothing wrong with it, and there's nothing special either. To label anime fans as open minded is the same as proving every geometric shape with more then one side is a circle.

Statistics would support it, since most anime fans seem to be always searching for something else but the things which surround them, but is that being open minded or just being weird? Personally, I like to indulge in the idea that anime fans are more explorer-driven.

I used the thread title as it is so it would attract more attention than if I were to ask the question and used it as the thread title. That is true what you said, to simply state that anime viewers are more open minded than other groups of viewers is really arrogant, simple minded and simply a single sided statement. But the question is about anime viewers, I didn't want to included any groups of anime viewers cause that would really separate the discussion and cause people to flame each others rejecting which group they belonged it or not.

But I like to think of anime as a collection of ideas, rather than a single entity.

[Kamui4356]

No, anime fans are the same closed minded, set in their ways idiots as the rest of the population. The only difference is they happened to watch the right anime at the right moment to get interested. The trouble is a lot of anime fans like to think that just watching anime makes them open minded because it's from Japan. Then they'll dismiss anything from other countries as not being as good as anime without even giving it a chance. Sorry that's not being open minded at all.

Of course I dont' think being open minded is a good thing any more. These days the meaning of the phrase seems to have changed from being accepting and open to new ideas to being accepting and open to stupid ideas like conspiracy theories with nothing to support them. The former is good, the latter not so much.:heh:

[felix]

I used the thread title as it is so it would attract more attention than if I were to ask the question and used it as the thread title. That is true what you said, to simply state that anime viewers are more open minded than other groups of viewers is really arrogant, simple minded and simply a single sided statement. But the question is about anime viewers, I didn't want to included any groups of anime viewers cause that would really separate the discussion and cause people to flame each others rejecting which group they belonged it or not.

I share Demongod's feelings as far as opinions of other anime fans go. Reading the two other posts before ours I think you should explain what exactly being open minded refers to in the said context. BTW, are we analyzing real life or simply internet make-believe attitudes we read on forums, irc channels etc?

But I like to think of anime as a collection of ideas, rather than a single entity.

What is the difference you are trying to make. I can't think of a collection of ideas as anything other then a group, entity call it what you will. If it's in a collection then that means it can be ordered, hence they are a specific group of ideas a entity in itself.
Can you rephrase your thoughts?

[Slice of Life]

Are the people who watch and involve some of their life with anime more open minded?

This is a nice theory, really. But 5 minutes over at ANN suffice to disprove it.

The typical anime viewer is probably more nerdy than the average person in his age group but neither more open minded nor more closed minded.

I guess I came at a great time too, since the 80s generation was the generation of the Internet.

Sadly, one can browse the Internet 24/7 while maintaining an amazing level of ignorance.

[Deathkillz]

Not really i would say...you still get jerks around even with anime fans...and we have the forums to prove it :heh: its just that perhaps "otakus" just generally know more than your average nerd (for all sorts of areas)...for good or for bad - its usually their choice to show. while some can be open minded, others are still closed off. i guess it comes down to whether you accept the "teachings" of some anime or just shrug it off (open minded or closed).

[Ichihara Asako]

I'll say not really, because people are people regardless of community. Every community has its dregs, and its legends.

[Clawn]

I tend to entertain the idea that most anime watchers are a small step above the writhing masses in the realm of intellectuality. I say this because in order to watch most anime and actually enjoy them, you've got to have an open mind. This becomes an overwhelmingly important character trait when watching anime that deal with controversial topics. So yes, I do believe that the majority of anime watchers are more open minded than the general public.

[Rembr]

Not really.
Other way around, in fact.
But it varies from person to person.

[JustInn14]

Hmm, at least anime's btter than the D!zn3y Ch@nn3|! :p

[Solace]

As a demographic I think anime fans spread just as many types as any other interest. There's good and bad to found just like anywhere else. It's always up to the individual to determine their gain from experiences.

Just like everything else in life, it's all subjective.

[Ichihara Asako]

I tend to entertain the idea that most anime watchers are a small step above the writhing masses in the realm of intellectuality. I say this because in order to watch most anime and actually enjoy them, you've got to have an open mind. This becomes an overwhelmingly important character trait when watching anime that deal with controversial topics. So yes, I do believe that the majority of anime watchers are more open minded than the general public.

This depends greatly on subs vs. dubs. A lot of dubs really dumb series down (let's not even get in to the severe butchering known as 're-tooling' that used to be common: see Macross->Robotech etc.) -- Somebody who only watches dubs on something like Adult Swim is going to be in a different league as somebody who watches a much broader range of things, in their original language without crappy American edits.

[Aoie_Emesai]

I share Demongod's feelings as far as opinions of other anime fans go. Reading the two other posts before ours I think you should explain what exactly being open minded refers to in the said context. BTW, are we analyzing real life or simply internet make-believe attitudes we read on forums, irc channels etc?



What is the difference you are trying to make. I can't think of a collection of ideas as anything other then a group, entity call it what you will. If it's in a collection then that means it can be ordered, hence they are a specific group of ideas a entity in itself.
Can you rephrase your thoughts?

#1 - For the first part, I rather didn't specify what I wanted, so I sorta hoped for ya to fill in the gap through discussions rather than me stating on a specific topic other than my vague title. But since we are in this far, i'll name what I really wanted to poke at. When I meant "open mined" I was implying more like acknowledgement of the anime and it the information it throws at you. It's pretty much acceptance of the ideas presented in anime. When I mean "acceptance", I don't mean go believing in Aliens or Ghosts and warp speed technology(w/e Star Trek reference ^_^).

I guess you can say "how the person feel when the person intake the information and how they accept it, even though it is absolutely outrageous or not." It's like string theory, even though the theory state that there are energy shaped like lines and strings and other, and they vibrate in certain way and the shape also effect what kind of energy and level is being transmitted (something like that ^_^). Can the person just accept it as is without much information or facts to prove its point, without total dismissal. If you were to just brush off that idea, then you would fall into the "non open minded" group ^_^

I hope that answered some confusing for you Cats.

*Real life and the internet are one in the same in this discussion, so take that into account when ya are posting. Discussion of anime is rather made easier on the internet with so much resource at our disposal.

#2 - My way of thinking and organizing data is a bit different from yours, I would say; Tomato, To(mah)to. While You say that a collection is a gathering of thoughts hence meaning its a total sum of, equaling 100%. I like to think of them as individuals, separate, with nothing more than a common interest, helping and sharing ideas. I guess you can pretty much call them a group or entity. My way of defining them is just different. Yours is just nothing more than a step above mine in classification.

This depends greatly on subs vs. dubs. A lot of dubs really dumb series down (let's not even get in to the severe butchering known as 're-tooling' that used to be common: see Macross->Robotech etc.) -- Somebody who only watches dubs on something like Adult Swim is going to be in a different league as somebody who watches a much broader range of things, in their original language without crappy American edits.

That may be so, but not everyone can understand Japanese, reading and writing it. Subs are the best way we can go for those who cannot do the 2 above.


In my experiences, most anime fans, if I didn't know that they were anime fans, I would not come near with a 100 meter pole. We're really talking, in most cases, people you absolutely did not want to be caught dead with. They are certainly not the most beautiful, nor the most intelligent either. Yes, there are some great anime fans out there, and I know a few myself, but for the most part, if you're a hardcore Otaku, I would prefer you stayed away from me.

You may have different experiences, but these are mine.

I would mostly agree with your statement. There's a limit to what you should know and what you should discuss with you non-anime friends; Useful knowledge has it's limits too.

[Kamui4356]

Can the person just accept it as is without much information or facts to prove its point, without total dismissal. If you were to just brush off that idea, then you would fall into the "non open minded" group ^_^

That's not being open minded. Open minded means you're open to new ideas or ways of doing things. It does not mean you accept those ideas without information or facts, just that you give the person presenting the idea the chance to present the information. If they can show you why it's better, right or whatever then you accept it. If they can't, if there's nothing backing it, you are not being closed minded to dismiss it.

It's close minded when you don't even give someone a chance to explain their idea and present evidence.

[Solace]

#1 - For the first part, I rather didn't specify what I wanted, so I sorta hoped for ya to fill in the gap through discussions rather than me stating on a specific topic other than my vague title. But since we are in this far, i'll name what I really wanted to poke at. When I meant "open mined" I was implying more like acknowledgement of the anime and it the information it throws at you. It's pretty much acceptance of the ideas presented in anime. When I mean "acceptance", I don't mean go believing in Aliens or Ghosts and warp speed technology(w/e Star Trek reference ^_^).

I guess you can say "how the person feel when the person intake the information and how they accept it, even though it is absolutely outrageous or not." It's like string theory, even though the theory state that there are energy shaped like lines and strings and other, and they vibrate in certain way and the shape also effect what kind of energy and level is being transmitted (something like that ^_^). Can the person just accept it as is without much information or facts to prove its point, without total dismissal. If you were to just brush off that idea, then you would fall into the "non open minded" group ^_^

I think I follow what you are saying, but if I'm not getting your ideas clearly I apologize.

An open minded person is someone who accepts all things as possible. It's not about acceptance, but rather understanding. Someone who accepts things for what they are is actually close minded, because they choose to close their mind to other alternatives.

People actually have at least a small level of an open mind, that is, if you show them the door they have the choice to take it. They don't seek out new doors, because they don't even consider that there may be doors beyond what they know. But someone with a true open mind will try and see as many doors as possible, make choices to go through them, but is always mindful of every door and where they may lead. There is also the person who only sees what they want to see, regardless of any other doors they will always pick the one in front of them.

An open minded person doesn't care about the acceptance of an idea, only that the idea gives them new doors to explore. A close minded person will never seek doors beyond what is shown to them, and often cast doubt upon a door that challenges the doors they are comfortable with.

Yay for long winded analogies. :heh:

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for more aliens, time travelers, and espers. ;)

[psycho bolt]

I think anime influences you to be more open minded individually. For determining if anime watchers are being open minded than over other people, I think a lot of other factors come into play besides just anime. So no.

[Vexx]

I think some time spent scanning random posts on these forums kind of blows that idea up. Hell, fans of one genre are often scathing in their opinions of someone's elses favorite genre.... open-minded? heh heh heh.... O.o

[Aoie_Emesai]

I think I follow what you are saying, but if I'm not getting your ideas clearly I apologize.

An open minded person is someone who accepts all things as possible. It's not about acceptance, but rather understanding. Someone who accepts things for what they are is actually close minded, because they choose to close their mind to other alternatives.

People actually have at least a small level of an open mind, that is, if you show them the door they have the choice to take it. They don't seek out new doors, because they don't even consider that there may be doors beyond what they know. But someone with a true open mind will try and see as many doors as possible, make choices to go through them, but is always mindful of every door and where they may lead. There is also the person who only sees what they want to see, regardless of any other doors they will always pick the one in front of them.

An open minded person doesn't care about the acceptance of an idea, only that the idea gives them new doors to explore. A close minded person will never seek doors beyond what is shown to them, and often cast doubt upon a door that challenges the doors they are comfortable with.

Yay for long winded analogies. :heh:

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for more aliens, time travelers, and espers. ;)

Accept? Acceptance? There's not really much difference b/t the two is there? One is a noun while the other is a verb.

Go find your aliens ^_^ Solace. Bring me back a partner :D

[Solace]

Accept? Acceptance? There's not really much difference b/t the two is there? One is a noun while the other is a verb.

Go find your aliens ^_^ Solace. Bring me back a partner :D

Well it's idealism perhaps. Acceptance means you've decided to remove the idea of other possible things from your mind. For instance, if you've accepted that there is a God, you are less likely to consider that there isn't, or that it may not be the God you are thinking of.

Most people settle on a fair amount of things that they choose to accept, just to stay grounded. On the extreme is the kind of person who accepts nothing. We would consider them paranoid or crazy, much in the same way we'd consider a fanatic or zealot in the same fashion.

There's a good middle ground where you can keep your feet grounded but still dream a bit. It's safe to say there are enough people still around who aren't stuck in absolutes.

One interesting thing about anime that I've discovered (and indeed is what drew me into the hobby in the first place), is that it often ignores the centralized Western way of thinking in place of a more philosophical/spiritual approach. Shows like Mushishi and Haibane Renmei are just as much character studies of the people in the show as much as they are reflections on the people watching them. This doesn't mean that such shows are for everyone, and can easily lead into the slippery slope of what is considered "deep".

But it does show that anime isn't just for perverts, or action fans, or romance fans, and accordingly, it draws in all types of fans due to the sheer variety of content that is explored. So while some are happy in accepting the latest drama or shounen series, there is at least an avenue through anime to explore pretty much any topic of interest. The doors are there, even if they aren't used as much as others.

It does not necessarily take an open mind to watch anime. But it's likely that something different appealed to people enough to get them interested in what many consider "just a cartoon". So there is at least some open thinking that occurred at some point. :)

Are they anime aliens? If that's the case I'll happily surrender to our incredibly hot alien overlords. :heh:

[Iambankai]

@ Iambankai
Inspire? It's just food for thought. Accepting it as inspiration means accepting being brain washed by your Tv/Comp. Written words are the only things which can inspire people, in a good way.

I disagree on that, it's not just food. It's more than that!
Seeing anime inspires people to do some other things, that the did not had/have tried before... one of my friends who was a little bit a bad drawer, is now such a good one - because he saw Anime/readed manga, he tried to make some swords and so, then it was anime characters, and then he got a new talent :D Oh by the way, I am NOT a hardcore anime/manga fan, I would call myself a ... neutral fan, I can live without anime for a very long time, no big deal for me, which some others can't (no offense meant by that :uhoh:). I can't get on anything else right now, but well... that's it.

By the way, I watch anime because it's fun, not because I want to learn things or so, but it just happens that you learn some chinese/japanese words, and so on.

[Amry]

I believe when Venus is in alignment with Mercury, stock markets will be bullish and GREAT CTHULHU WILL RISE FROM R'YLEH. IA!

In other words, I don't see a correlation between watching anime and being open-minded. I've met plenty of bigoted and/or moronic anime fans. If watching anime = more likely to be open-minded, then by association we can say "people who spend all day watching daytime talk shows and Rikki Lake is more likely to be geniuses".

[Demongod86]

In fact, most anime otakus are anything *but* intelligent. We're talking real failures at life, in most cases.

That's not to say anime is a terrible thing (or I wouldn't be on these boards), but it is simply a modicum of entertainment, and nothing more.

And if you think loving anime makes you a nerd, I have to say that I've seen a self-proclaimed nerd that has once made fun of me for liking anime along the lines of "you have no dragonballs" back in middle school. And currently, she not only is more intelligent than me, but is also one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in real life or otherwise.

In contrast, maybe if all of those anime otakus stopped watching hours upon hours of anime and hit the gym a bit more to look like the anime characters they idolize so much, they'd be more presentable as human beings IMO.

[Amry]

And currently, she not only is more intelligent than me, but is also one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen in real life or otherwise.

I say you're bullshitting me. If you disagree, please provide her MySpace page and phone number. For uh, verification purposes.

In contrast, maybe if all of those anime otakus stopped watching hours upon hours of anime and hit the gym a bit more to look like the anime characters they idolize so much, they'd be more presentable as human beings IMO.

Stereotype, much?

While some people at the very edges of the scale do look like the much-maligned "fatty with zits otaku whose sole purpose in life is to move to Japan" caricature, most anime fans that I know of are actually (relatively) well-adjusted.

Conclusion: anime won't automatically grant you a +1 on your Intelligence check, or make you fat. It may provide you with a minor boost to creativity and other things mental (including perverseness), but its effect on your physical attributes is no greater than almost any other indoor activity.

[Daniel E.]

Not really i would say...you still get jerks around even with anime fans...and we have the forums to prove it :heh:

QFT !! :heh: :heh:

And no, I dont think watching anime makes you more open minded. Some of the most close minded folks I have ever meet, were in fact, hardcore anime fans. >_< !

Not saying every hardcore anime fan is like that, though.

[Demongod86]

I say you're bullshitting me. If you disagree, please provide her MySpace page and phone number. For uh, verification purposes.



Stereotype, much?

While some people at the very edges of the scale do look like the much-maligned "fatty with zits otaku whose sole purpose in life is to move to Japan" caricature, most anime fans that I know of are actually (relatively) well-adjusted.

Conclusion: anime won't automatically grant you a +1 on your Intelligence check, or make you fat. It may provide you with a minor boost to creativity and other things mental (including perverseness), but its effect on your physical attributes is no greater than almost any other indoor activity.

I have no permission to do anything of number one.

And stereotype much? No, it's what I see happening. And I'm not saying fatty with zits. Either lanky or fat or ugly in most cases, though one of my friends is an Otaku and he's ripped as hell.

[felix]

#1 - For the first part, I rather didn't specify what I wanted, so I sorta hoped for ya to fill in the gap through discussions rather than me stating on a specific topic other than my vague title. But since we are in this far, i'll name what I really wanted to poke at. When I meant "open mined" I was implying more like acknowledgement of the anime and it the information it throws at you. It's pretty much acceptance of the ideas presented in anime. When I mean "acceptance", I don't mean go believing in Aliens or Ghosts and warp speed technology(w/e Star Trek reference ^_^).

I guess you can say "how the person feel when the person intake the information and how they accept it, even though it is absolutely outrageous or not." It's like string theory, even though the theory state that there are energy shaped like lines and strings and other, and they vibrate in certain way and the shape also effect what kind of energy and level is being transmitted (something like that ^_^). Can the person just accept it as is without much information or facts to prove its point, without total dismissal. If you were to just brush off that idea, then you would fall into the "non open minded" group ^_^

I hope that answered some confusing for you Cats.

*Real life and the internet are one in the same in this discussion, so take that into account when ya are posting. Discussion of anime is rather made easier on the internet with so much resource at our disposal.

The way you phrase it, open minded people hear and see all which moves. Well so do you, I wake up every day and hear different opinions point of view every day, weather it was my intention or not. It's not that much a voluntary action as it would seem to be, is it?

If say you are open minded, using the sense of the word you described, that means you are open to all possibilities, and as you alluded to, all impossibilities. Well then, how open are you to carrying out what they are telling you is the right course of action. How open are you to the very minor possibility that once dismissed possibilities of old, may be the true ones. That's to say, how much thought do you put into that which you do not know, that's to say, to the possibility that all you know of something at a particular moment are all wrong? ;)

Well I don't mean to discuss this or bully your beliefs, I guess just this little paragraph won't hurt. My personal take is people who look for everything in something will find zero to nothing, and will sometimes miss the simple and obvious truth. (there's nothing there to see)

[ChainLegacy]

At least where I'm from, trying anime tends to indicate that one is more open-minded. This is so because anime is really, really underground here and whatever anime might be mainstream is fairly stigmatized and/or thought of as stupid cartoons and animated porn (no idea where this stereotype came from...)... so, yeah, being willing to try it out in of itself is open-minded.

[Spark]

Nah.. I don't think it does. I think it really depends on a lot of social factors surrounding you. If you're in an anime group where there are discussions about the anime and such, such as in a forum, I think there's a greater chance that you'll end up being slightly more open minded. But I think simply watching anime won't make you more opened minded. As many people have stated above, I know a ton of people who watch anime who are the most close-minded people in the world. >.>

[Aoie_Emesai]

The way you phrase it, open minded people hear and see all which moves. Well so do you, I wake up every day and hear different opinions point of view every day, weather it was my intention or not. It's not that much a voluntary action as it would seem to be, is it?

If say you are open minded, using the sense of the word you described, that means you are open to all possibilities, and as you alluded to, all impossibilities. Well then, how open are you to carrying out what they are telling you is the right course of action. How open are you to the very minor possibility that once dismissed possibilities of old, may be the true ones. That's to say, how much thought do you put into that which you do not know, that's to say, to the possibility that all you know of something at a particular moment are all wrong? ;)


*nod head up and down* [1]Yes, i'm open to all sides, i'm neutral till I can gather enough information on what has happened. The data collection is a slow process for me. I'll take info from fact and fiction, then based on my belief and experience, i'll decided what I think is correct.[.1]

Humm... I don't quite know if i'm as you described. While I do try to seek answers, I'm not that meticulous :D, when it comes to collecting data. I'm not quite sure what your trying to get at, when you say "how open are you to carrying out what they are telling you is the right course of action." If you mean by this " how would you would decide, then it would be according to the situation."

To simply take in information doesn't mean I have already taken sides so I couldn't have chosen something incorrect. If I were to be deliberately accused for listening to bad information, I don't know what I would do; Fight back maybe ^_^ , you can read [1] for the rest. To quicken the reading pace, pretty much, i'm as is till either information is given to me willingly or until I intentionally gather it myself. It's not like i'll go spreading my views and beliefs around or anything anyway, i'm much too lazy for that :p

Well I don't mean to discuss this or bully your beliefs, I guess just this little paragraph won't hurt. My personal take is people who look for everything in something will find zero to nothing, and will sometimes miss the simple and obvious truth. (there's nothing there to see)

Don't get me wrong now, i'm not like that at all. I'm a procrastinater till death ^_^

[Demongod86]

At least where I'm from, trying anime tends to indicate that one is more open-minded. This is so because anime is really, really underground here and whatever anime might be mainstream is fairly stigmatized and/or thought of as stupid cartoons and animated porn (no idea where this stereotype came from...)... so, yeah, being willing to try it out in of itself is open-minded.

Anime is stigmatized due to the kind of people that watch it. I can assure you that if we had alpha males and supermodel looking girls watching it proudly, it wouldn't be stigmatized. The stereotype of "stupid cartoons" comes from the butchery of anime in translation and animation editing (bye bye blood), and the "animated porn"...well...just take a look at any stereotypical "anime girl" :heh: .

Trust me, I can fully understand why anime is stigmatized as much as it is. And it isn't because of what it is, but exactly because of who watches it. I can assure you that if you would show someone all the good anime, they may very well like it.

[Deathkillz]

Trust me, I can fully understand why anime is stigmatized as much as it is. And it isn't because of what it is, but exactly because of who watches it. I can assure you that if you would show someone all the good anime, they may very well like it.
part of what being open minded is really...those folks who havent seen any anime yet dam it as being childish or indecent are generally the closed minded people. i have no problem with people giving it a try but still dislike it but hopefully they would think "well...it wasnt as bad as i thought" to the ones who start on a new journey of discovery saying "wow that was actually pretty good...what happens next?".

being open minded is like being able to take in views of others...even strong opinionative people can be open minded if they look at the two sides of the story and come to a conclusion based on that (rather than just relying on stereotypes). but no humans can be fully open minded i guess seen as we arent perfect ;)

[felix]

They can watch it, not like it while they're watching it and still not like it afterwards. Would that make them closed minded? The flavor we like to take from the world is part of what makes us who we are. It's not only a question of liking it or not, it's also a issue of weather you want it or not.

The accusation that if you don't want to try something you're closed minded is bull. Everything has it's positives and negatives. For things with vague positive points (anime, games, skydiving, stunts etc) and clear negative points, nobody can take away your right to simply refuse on the spot.

[Deathkillz]

thats why i said noone is perfect. im not saying that "if you dont try something you are close minded" for everything (sure hell know that i will never do skydiving but does it make me hate the sport?). its fine to have views but to strongly object to something is a different matter - especially if that something is not understood and based on myths (anime = hentai).

[felix]

Are we to judge what other people should hate or love now!? :D Oh Sweet

* Cough Cough
Anyway, like I said, even if they hate it with ought knowing what it is, it's still well within reason. They may have other more important things to explore or think about. (I'm not talking about some work schedule)

The only circumstance where they would be eligible for the title of closed minded fools is if they where surrounded by anime in every day life but refused to acknowledge it's existence. And that's still far from your original sorting-order.

You're presuming too much with your last example. Conducting any sort of research into the subject would require some will to begin with. If in theory they don't even like it a little where is will power going to come from. Nobody has any sort of obligation to be extra fair to what they don't know or like.

[Deathkillz]

Are we to judge what other people should hate or love now!? :D Oh Sweet
oh sure...carry on twisting it :rolleyes:

* Cough Cough
Anyway, like I said, even if they hate it with ought knowing what it is, it's still well within reason. They may have other more important things to explore or think about. (I'm not talking about some work schedule)

The only circumstance where they would be eligible for the title of closed minded fools is if they where surrounded by anime in every day life but refused to acknowledge it's existence. And that's still far from your original sorting-order.

You're presuming too much with your last example, conducting any sort of research into the subject would require some will to begin with. If theory don't even like it a little where is it going to come from. Nobody has any sort of obligation to be extra fair to what they don't know or like.
yet even though they know jack all...they still generalise the crap out of it trying to be smart (i know anime is for kids therefore i will never try it) :rolleyes:

this topic can go either way and we will be debating it til the cows come home at this rate :heh:

so what is the true meaning of being close minded? opinions would vairy from person to person so it isnt exactally some "set into stone" as a definition.

[Demongod86]

No, they also channel surf past it or are otherwise exposed to it and if they don't know what's going on, they'll think it's really stupid.

"So I saw my little brother watching a show about these two guys with yellow spiky hair screaming like they're constipated."

Sounds an awful lot like DBZ to me.

Trust me, America makes anime look bad, and that reflects on the potential viewers. They don't show Miyazaki films or the really good anime until midnight (Trigun for instance).

Most people here in America were exposed to "constipated" super saiyans, girls with overly large boobs, a bunch of reused animation, and fat ugly geeks that talk about it all the time.

There are those people that are very much normal that watch anime like one of my best friends. When he said he was watching DBZ when he was at home, people still laughed at that.

[Aoie_Emesai]

That true, but I don't think cartoon network is about to be showing an anime which won't be popular or boring or unproductive >.<

[JustInn14]

At least anime's a GOOD form of entertainment, and not crap like PBS Kidz, or the Diznuh C#@nn3L! :p

[Trogdor Jube]

As anime does inspire me with fan fics and such you might think that anime fans are the best type of fans. But these days anime seems to be the root of fanboyism. But anime has never made me view the world any different and I doubt it has to anyone else (I could be wrong). I say not really.

[Royal_Devil]

At least anime's a GOOD form of entertainment, and not crap like PBS Kidz, or the Diznuh C#@nn3L! :p

What's wrong with PBS kids? It aired some of my favorite shows when I was a little kid. Maybe it's not to your "adult" taste nor does it try to. It's for little kids and I know little kids that love the stuff and actually do learn things from it. So what's wrong with that?

[Oppius]

In my opinion,most anime fans are not open-minded.Just look what most of them will say about Disney or Nickelodeon cartoons.They even outcast people who love either channels or both.Being an anime fan myself,I enjoyed those channels when I don't have anything to watch.I don't see anything wrong with them.While I agree anime have strong fanboyism,Disney was like that too.I already met someone who obsessed with Disney and had tons of Disney-related stuffs.Just like most anime fanboys and fangirls.

[4Tran]

It seems to me that there are two different questions being asked in this thread. The first is "does watching/liking anime make one more open-minded?" and the second is "are people who like anime more open-minded than the general population?" The first is a very difficult one to answer since it's so dependent on each individual's approach, and because anecdotal evidence is usually worthless. The answer to the second is an unequivocal "yes" in the case of non-Japanese anime viewers. The reason is that a population which is composed of people who express an interest in a form of entertainment outside of their own culture is automatically more open-minded than the general population. This isn't exactly unique to anime, and this difference in open-mindedness can be quite a bit smaller than one might expect because of the nature of statistical curves. There will still be the odd xenophobic misanthrope among anime viewers, but chances are that there won't be as many there are in the general population.

[Geass]

It seems to me that there are two different questions being asked in this thread. The first is "does watching/liking anime make one more open-minded?" and the second is "are people who like anime more open-minded than the general population?" The first is a very difficult one to answer since it's so dependent on each individual's approach, and because anecdotal evidence is usually worthless. The answer to the second is an unequivocal "yes" in the case of non-Japanese anime viewers. The reason is that a population which is composed of people who express an interest in a form of entertainment outside of their own culture is automatically more open-minded than the general population. This isn't exactly unique to anime, and this difference in open-mindedness can be quite a bit smaller than one might expect because of the nature of statistical curves. There will still be the odd xenophobic misanthrope among anime viewers, but chances are that there won't be as many there are in the general population.

Excellent points. I was planning to express my views in about 2 minutes, but it seems you've beaten me to it while explaining better than I could. ;)

[Ledgem]

The reason is that a population which is composed of people who express an interest in a form of entertainment outside of their own culture is automatically more open-minded than the general population. This isn't exactly unique to anime, and this difference in open-mindedness can be quite a bit smaller than one might expect because of the nature of statistical curves. There will still be the odd xenophobic misanthrope among anime viewers, but chances are that there won't be as many there are in the general population.
I agree in general, but this part doesn't necessarily hold true. I've seen plenty of anime fans who embrace anime, but become incredibly hostile towards their own culture's forms of entertainment. It reminds me of a number of psychological models for ethnic minorities. According to the models, the individual starts out accepting mainstream culture, until they're exposed to a certain event. Suddenly, they shift to an extreme, totally rejecting the dominant culture, and wholly embracing their native culture. Later on, the models state that the individual comes to realize positives and negatives of both cultures, and accepts both to a certain degree. That is the happy ideal end along the model development line.

I see a slight parallel with people here, except that they're not minorities returning to their native culture. They're people enthralled with a new culture (Japanese culture), who suddenly reject their own culture and/or the dominant culture and want to live the Japanese culture. I would argue that people going through that are not more open-minded. If the model truly could be applied in this situation, then they are actually quite ignorant.

In my observations, the cultural shift occurs mostly among younger people, particularly teenagers. And that makes sense, because the teen years are notoriously a time of discovering and establishing yourself as an individual. It'd be interesting to see how frequently it occurs to people across all age groups. If it's somewhat standard, then it could be argued that people go through a phase of ignorance. I'd presume that most come out of it, though. One would think that they'd be more open-minded after passing through that phase. Going back to the psychological models, a person does not need to progress linearly through the various stages, and they may even get stuck at a certain stage. Even knowing all of that, I can't make a highly informed generalization about anime fans.

[4Tran]

I agree in general, but this part doesn't necessarily hold true. I've seen plenty of anime fans who embrace anime, but become incredibly hostile towards their own culture's forms of entertainment. It reminds me of a number of psychological models for ethnic minorities. According to the models, the individual starts out accepting mainstream culture, until they're exposed to a certain event. Suddenly, they shift to an extreme, totally rejecting the dominant culture, and wholly embracing their native culture. Later on, the models state that the individual comes to realize positives and negatives of both cultures, and accepts both to a certain degree. That is the happy ideal end along the model development line.
That shouldn't make too much difference to my argument since such people are present in the general population as well. The main difference is that the anime fan is almost certainly not a xenophobe, while that is not necessarily true in the case of the non-fan.

Ledgem, I have the sneaking suspicion that you're interpreting "more open-minded" to mean "fairly open-minded" when this doesn't have to be the case at all.

I see a slight parallel with people here, except that they're not minorities returning to their native culture. They're people enthralled with a new culture (Japanese culture), who suddenly reject their own culture and/or the dominant culture and want to live the Japanese culture. I would argue that people going through that are not more open-minded. If the model truly could be applied in this situation, then they are actually quite ignorant.
This is untrue. If person A and person B were identical in all respects except that person A is only open to his own culture but person B is non-Japanese but is only willing to adopt Japanese culture, the latter is the more open-minded of the two by definition. This would be true even if both people were complete misanthropes.

Think of it this way, if person A was the stereotypical Japanese otaku and hated everything outside of otaku culture, and person B was identical but for the fact that he's American, who would be the more open-minded of the two?

[Daniel E.]

I am not really sure if people here are talking about being more open minded in general or just being more open minded about the things they are willing to try and enjoy.

A person can be very open minded when it comes to anime, at the same time, that very same person can be completly closed about other things.

[Hotaru Suzume]

I'd call anime fans (and avid fans of anything else in this world) anything but open-minded, purely because of the fact that they're pretty much obsessed with one specific thing (otaku, eh); hardly open minds much, more closed like a bulkhead on the Pillar of Autumn. xD

[JustInn14]

What's wrong with PBS kids? It aired some of my favorite shows when I was a little kid. Maybe it's not to your "adult" taste nor does it try to. It's for little kids and I know little kids that love the stuff and actually do learn things from it. So what's wrong with that?

I'm not saying I hate those places, I just hate it when AdvuhTyzmentals' are shown on thw WRONG NETWORK!

In my opinion,most anime fans are not open-minded.Just look what most of them will say about Disney or Nickelodeon cartoons.They even outcast people who love either channels or both.Being an anime fan myself,I enjoyed those channels when I don't have anything to watch.I don't see anything wrong with them.While I agree anime have strong fanboyism,Disney was like that too.I already met someone who obsessed with Disney and had tons of Disney-related stuffs.Just like most anime fanboys and fangirls.


Hey, I used to like Nick and Disney, it's just that, they decided to air slutyy teen poser programs, and BADLY MADE CARTOONS, instead of show cartoons/other shows.

[crazyhorse]

This depends greatly on subs vs. dubs. A lot of dubs really dumb series down (let's not even get in to the severe butchering known as 're-tooling' that used to be common: see Macross->Robotech etc.) -- Somebody who only watches dubs on something like Adult Swim is going to be in a different league as somebody who watches a much broader range of things, in their original language without crappy American edits.

Sorry I just had to comment on this. Not to start another one of those 'dubs vs. subs' wars, but dubs THESE days aren't 'dumbed down' as you say it is. There aren't a lot of edits, and if they do edit out things, it's usually just blood. The script for most dubs now are pretty good and if they sound dumbed down then it's just to make it sound more natural when the words are spoken. Really, subs are great and all and they sound ok when you read them, but when you hear some of the lines spoken outloud, it doesn't sound natural. Besides, from all the complaining I hear from dub haters, they usually just complain about the voices or acting, but I don't hear anything about the overall translation of the original script. So in my opinion, just because someone watches the anime dubbed doesn't mean they missed the overall meaning of the anime.

Ok back to the original topic, I don't really think that anime has made people more open minded in general (as said by a lot of people so far in this thread), but I can say that it has made me a little more open minded in some areas. It has made me a lot more open minded towards homosexuality. Before watching anime, I was wary and a bit uncomfortable with gays and lesbians and be one of those little children who crack gay jokes or find calling someone gay as an offense, but now I'm totally ok with it and don't mind it at all.

[Grimkill7]

I absolutely hate the phrase open-minded. People are different for a reason. Disagreement and debate are spawned by differences in preference and beliefs. Phrases like "open-minded" and "close-minded" just work to tear down these walls and assimilate everyone. Any disagreement, no matter how huge the subject, can be refuted with, "Well maybe your just a close-minded person".

Person A: "Yeah, I'm thinking about killing my wife tonight."
Person B: "Dude, that's fucking sick!"
Person A: "Wha, why?"
Person B: "Because murder is wrong!"
Person A: "Well I think you're just a close-minded person."

Yeah I know it's a stupid scenario, but it doesn't make the point any less valid. I don't believe in calling someone close-minded because they don't conform to my beliefs. Now that's not to say you shouldn't tolerate someone else's tastes. I hate country music (very much), but I will not rip on country music fans. And in return I would like them to respect my preferences and not call me close-minded for not liking theirs. Diversity defines humanity.

[Solace]

I absolutely hate the phrase open-minded. People are different for a reason. Disagreement and debate are spawned by differences in preference and beliefs. Phrases like "open-minded" and "close-minded" just work to tear down these walls and assimilate everyone. Any disagreement, no matter how huge the subject, can be refuted with, "Well maybe your just a close-minded person".

Person A: "Yeah, I'm thinking about killing my wife tonight."
Person B: "Dude, that's fucking sick!"
Person A: "Wha, why?"
Person B: "Because murder is wrong!"
Person A: "Well I think you're just a close-minded person."

Yeah I know it's a stupid scenario, but it doesn't make the point any less valid. I don't believe in calling someone close-minded because they don't conform to my beliefs. Now that's not to say you shouldn't tolerate someone else's tastes. I hate country music (very much), but I will not rip on country music fans. And in return I would like them to respect my preferences and not call me close-minded for not liking theirs. Diversity defines humanity.

I think you are misunderstanding what being open or close minded is about. It's not a belief system. It's an understanding of how you view the world. Every single person has a different set of beliefs, values, and ideas. So no, it's not possible to be 100 percent open minded. We're all individuals in the end.

What being open minded is all about is the reflection of influences. So for instance, I do not like all music. I usually listen to rock. However, I do like some music from every genre I've heard, and I enjoy seeking out new types of music to discover if I might like or dislike them. If I'm in a place where I am listening to music I do not usually enjoy, I tolerate it and make the best of it. So no, I don't scream turn it off that music sucks! I give everything the benefit of the doubt.

A close minded person would say x music sucks, and never give it a chance. I have a friend like that. He only listens to metal. He refuses to listen to rap or country, despite me pointing out that sometimes he does listen to it and doesn't realize it, which is usually met with a defensive attitude about how it's all crap and he would never listen to that junk.

There's nothing wrong with his opinion honestly. He's entitled to it just like everyone else is. And I'd be lying if I said I was always open minded. There are some things I have difficulty with changing my stance on, just like he does.

It's possible to be more open to some things than others. It's also possible to be open to a point and then draw a line. For instance, murder is wrong, but killing people in war is not murder. Show me where one is ok but not the other. Self defense? Justice? All terms used to justify something that goes against everything you are told while growing up. It flies in the face of all of your beliefs. In fact many soldiers have a hard time with it. But they still do it. It's their job.

You get to a point where classifying open or close mindedness ends up with a grey area of discussion, but hey that's life as an adult. Oh for the days of childhood when everything was black and white.

[4Tran]

I absolutely hate the phrase open-minded. People are different for a reason. Disagreement and debate are spawned by differences in preference and beliefs. Phrases like "open-minded" and "close-minded" just work to tear down these walls and assimilate everyone. Any disagreement, no matter how huge the subject, can be refuted with, "Well maybe your just a close-minded person".
Your problem isn't with the phrase "open-minded"; it's with people misusing that phrase in a fallacious manner. Being open-minded doesn't mean that one is receptive to all ideas, it means that one is receptive to all ideas that make sense. This means that an idea should be rejected on its lack of merits rather than because it's unfamiliar or seemingly strange. However, a lot of poor/dishonest debaters use it as an ad hominem attack when they can't refute an opponent's argument.

[stjeppe]

"No i don't think so"

guys what is this all about???
this must be the weirdest anime-related Question i've seen so far.
some of you here are posting with very hard-to-read words, this is an anime-forum, not a psychology-forum.


calling an anime-watcher open-minded (or not) is only because of an indivual definition you yourself give to anime-watchers;

i fail to see how anime is cultural-related. maybe some are .. but pls enlighten me in that case

[RavenHawk]

No; some are open, some are closed, some are 50/50, just like stjeppe said.

It's just that simple.... (walks away)

[Aoie_Emesai]

Hey, I used to like Nick and Disney, it's just that, they decided to air slutyy teen poser programs, and BADLY MADE CARTOONS, instead of show cartoons/other shows.

You don't like Nick? That's too bad, SpongeBob and FairlyOdd Parents are the best.

[stjeppe]

lmao spongebob squarepants now that is such a good show, cracks me up every time.

[Kisuke06]

I don't think you can say something like: "He likes anime, thus he is open minded."

If someone likes anime that just means he/she likes anime. You can't take another conclusion just with that.

At least that is what I think.

[Reno]

Ahh that's a very good point. But.... I think so. Because anime... well it isn't that normal is it? To foreigners, anyway. And it shows that they can see past the fact that it's a cartoon. Soo I think you need to be at least a bit open-minded to appreciate it.

[Kisuke06]

Ahh that's a very good point. But.... I think so. Because anime... well it isn't that normal is it? To foreigners, anyway. And it shows that they can see past the fact that it's a cartoon. Soo I think you need to be at least a bit open-minded to appreciate it.

Yes, I understand what you are saying. I also think it's more probable that a person who likes anime is open minded. The thing is, you can't say that for sure.

[Papaya]

"Yes I think so"

I really don't know how else to argue for this than pointing out 4chan. Animated media opens up a world of... random crap sometimes =P

[JustInn14]

You don't like Nick? That's too bad, SpongeBob and FairlyOdd Parents are the best.

Well, I still like SpongeBob, And I've seen some of Fairly-Odd-parents, too.

It's some of the Other cartoons, that I don't like Like "El Tigre", and some freaky looking puppet show. I love a lot of the older NickToons, but they aren't broadcasted anymore. :( It's the commercials that always get to me.....:upset:

[Reno]

Yes, I understand what you are saying. I also think it's more probable that a person who likes anime is open minded. The thing is, you can't say that for sure.

Ahh. I hear and respect ya. ;)

Edit: Oh yes and Fairly-Odd-Parants OWNS! :D Spongebob's ok... I've seen the movie and I quite liked it.

[TinyRedLeaf]

guys what is this all about???
this must be the weirdest anime-related Question i've seen so far.
some of you here are posting with very hard-to-read words, this is an anime-forum, not a psychology-forum.

calling an anime-watcher open-minded (or not) is only because of an indivual definition you yourself give to anime-watchers;

i fail to see how anime is cultural-related. maybe some are .. but pls enlighten me in that case

Hmm....I think I was one of the first to add my vote to this poll ("Not really"), but I didn't add a post because I couldn't immediately think of what I wanted to say. But 4Tran and Ledgem already beat me to it, so there is no further need to elaborate my points.

I'm slightly amused by stjeppe's post though. No offence, but if you ask me, the very act of slamming someone's replies for being too wordy is an ironic example of being "close-minded".

As for failing to see how anime is culturally-related, how can you not help but be aware of a very different culture while watching anime produced in Japan? It doesn't just have to be anime with historical-themes (eg, Rurori Kenshin). Even for comedies such as Azumanga Daioh or Lucky Star, you do have to be at least slightly aware of the cultural contexts in order to find the jokes funny.

The difference lies, I suppose, in how far you carry out your hobby. If you go to the extent of being hostile to all other forms of entertainment because you strongly feel that "Anime is the Best! (TM)", then I think you've lost the plot somewhere. Unfortunately, that is precisely what I often see among some anime fans. Hence, are people who like anime more open-minded? "Not really."

[Reno]

If you go to the extent of being hostile to all other forms of entertainment because you strongly feel that "Anime is the Best! (TM)", then I think you've lost the plot somewhere. Unfortunately, that is precisely what I often see among some anime fans. Hence, are people who like anime more open-minded? "Not really."

Errrm... you can't just say "not really" just because SOME anime fans are interested in only that. You know, what about all the others??

[Ledgem]

Errrm... you can't just say "not really" just because SOME anime fans are interested in only that. You know, what about all the others??
The answer is in the question your proposed. Just because some anime fans are not like that would not give you grounds to state that all anime fans are open-minded. The question is over a generalization - in general, are anime fans more open-minded than others? TinyRedLeaf has noted that "many" anime fans are hostile to other cultures outside of Japan, and thus he does not consider them open-minded. Personally, I've seen plenty of that and other examples of ignorance and thus I would state that fans who are more open-minded are either very few, or they are covert anime fans. If your own experiences differ, then it makes sense that you'd see it differently.

[Diaboso]

maybe a little :P