Travel narrows the mind

I first visited India when I was 19 years old.  My job was teaching English at a secondary school, and each weekend a group of us from England would meet to explore nearby tourist attractions.  Between us we had a lot of preconceptions:  India is dirty; all they eat in India is curry;  Indian buses are death traps; people in India are always out to rip you off.  And many more.  All of us were excited about spending time in India, but our feelings were tinged with fear and a slight sense that this was something to be endured as well as enjoyed.

All of our preconceptions were gross generalisations.  And everywhere we went we found examples to prove us right:

Look at how filthy that street is.
Oh, I'll just have a curry with some naan.
That bus driver was insane - did you see how fast he was taking those bends?!
I don't know what he wanted, but I bet he was about to try and sell me something.


If you believe any generalisation sufficiently large and stupid, then it's easy to see examples that will convince you how right you are.  Finding confirmatory evidence for our preconceptions is something at which human beings excel.  This way of approaching the world does nothing but further narrow our views, and more deeply entrench our preconceptions. Travel - done like this - is a fantastic way to reinforce your beliefs and narrow your mind.

Counter-examples would have been easy to see if we'd looked for them: huge natural clean areas, wide varieties of food, safe buses, friendly people with no agenda.  But many of us didn't look, and came back with our initial views confirmed.

Our preconceptions lure us into another trap, though, even beyond looking for examples or counter-examples. We might actively seek counter-examples to overcome our prejudices but we are still in the same mindset. We are still trapped by our preconceptions.  That time spent trying to prove them wrong (or, much more easily, right) is time that we spend ignoring everything outside of our pre-decided beliefs.  In a struggle to find different types of food, safe road transport, and clean streets, we miss the opportunity to look at amazing natural beauty, fantastic historic buildings, and ways of life that we've never seen before.

While it's important that we make the effort to challenge our prejudices, it's better still to engage with the world at a level above our beliefs - to meet the world as it is, unfiltered.

If you're out there challenging your preconceptions on a regular basis then you're one of few, and I admire you greatly.  If you're out there dropping your preconceptions entirely and facing the world with no mental safety net, then I admire you even more.