Theory of relativity on Open Mindedness.

"Whether you are open minded or not,  really, depends where your mind's walls are built."

Did Einstein think of this while formulating his theory of  relativity?

You ask any Indian and the answer you'll get is that 'The west' is open minded. Ask them why and they will tell you that, they openly speak about relationships and sex and they don't have a conservative society that they need to fear like we do in India. They are open to cross cultural marriages and they don't have to seek their parents' permission for major decisions of their lives. Really? Is that open mindedness? I care to disagree. 

What we have said just now is not open-mindedness. It's just a culture! This is how I look at it:

'The west' in general are wealthy countries with high per-capita income which means that their standard of living is better than 'the east' in general. They get many privileges since childhood in their country. Just as an example, I recently found out that in the UK parents do not need to buy any books for children in school. Books are bought by the schools and provided to the students. Year after year these books are passed on to  the next batch of students until the syllabus changes when new books are bought by the school. This shows us that a high amount parents' yearly income is saved. Parents are investing less money in their children if I may say so.  On the other hand in the East, parents buy books for children. Many such aspects lead us to observe that the west has an individualistic mindset. Once they get into adulthood they move on from their homes to live their own independent lives. That is their culture. They struggle to work part time and earn to make a living along with their studies. Each individual takes care of himself/herself once an adult. 

"The east" in general are not as wealthy as the west I would say. The standard of living is lower. Parents spend most of their money to raise their children successfully and support them while they pursue education. So much so that parents need to give up  their simple dreams of buying a new house or a car in order to support the child's education. This is mainly because the living and education costs are very high in general as compared to the per capita income. In "The east" people are collectivistic. They tend to stay together in groups in order to support each other in case of need for the very reason of the standard of living. Parents support children upto their postgraduate degree (in most cases). Students do not work part time during their learning years as they are entirely supported by parents. Once parents are old, children take care of them. They live together. Since they live together the parents have an important say in the lives of their children in terms of relationship and marriage just as your life partner has in your life because you live together. That is their culture. 

Then why are we attempting to term any of these as open-minded or narrow-minded? These are two different cultural perspectives. 

Open-mindedness I feel is the willingness to understand a different culture and an attitude that allows you to respect it. There are many downsides to each culture but that is not what the culture preaches. It is what the people misread in the values that are passed on from generation to generation. If the west looks at the east with sympathetic eyes and says that they feel we are living in a narrow-minded society, in fact they are narrow minded in thinking so. East is not miserable. East is just different. On similar lines if east thinks that west is broadminded  they are narrow-minded in thinking so. Open-mindedness is in respecting the other cultures and appreciating its strengths and its origin. 

We are people living with different values owing to our different backgrounds. So first you must respect your own culture to be open minded!