How Can We Be More Open-Minded?

I have long struggled with the Anais Nin quote “We see the world not as it is, but as we are”, it is all about perception and all those filters that we have applied throughout our life, learning and experiences that affect how we are interpreting and categorizing what we see.  I mean, really, shouldn’t things just be, black and white, one way or another, a fact?  How can there always be room for interpretation and difference?  I recently had a disagreement with a friend, and they sent 10 pages of a book to prove their position.  The fascinating part of that exchange is that I dutifully read the ten pages and absolutely found that they backed my position and idea.  Now this is a learned friend, so I knew that they would be equally convicted that it proved their position to be correct, so I said nothing and moved on.  However, the whole exchange offered me another opportunity to think about this quote and idea, that once we have decided on a position, we can often find back up in whatever we look at.  In this way, the greatest of care should be taken in developing the firm opinion.  We find what we are looking for.  So, I guess we have two options or maybe two equal tasks, we need to stay open about our opinions when we can so that we can take in new information and keep on learning.  Secondly, we need to understand that there is often no single interpretation, with the exception of maybe math, that something that seems absolutely conclusive to me could be interpreted in a completely different way by another.  I think its important to be convicted about things, but the awareness that others see the same things very differently is just as important for this sojourn that we are all on together.  Sometimes there is great strength in being vulnerable enough to try really hard to see things through a different lens, an alternative frame or at least to acknowledge that a difference could exist.  How rich our lives can be when we see things as we are, and as we all are.