To be open-minded is simply to admit that one doesn't already know everything...or that one doesn't know for sure about something in particular.

Such admission is not very forthcoming from most people when it comes to matters that they automatically dismiss for no other reason than their own prior prejudice and beliefs.

The Sasquatch thing is interesting, Rap. Like you, I would say that for me it remains intriguing, but unproven. Same goes for the alien visitors, but I lean strongly to belief there, because of personal experiences I've had.

A thing is not said to be "proven" in this society until the society's ruling authority figures SAY officially through their media and educational system that it IS proven. And till that happens, the average person tends not to believe in it, simply because he assumes that the ruling people must KNOW. He engages, therefore, in an act of faith, just like people who assume that the Pope must know.

What can change the average person's viewpoint is a direct personal experience. He then no longer gives a damn what the ruling authority figures say about it, because his own experience outweighs what they say...for him. And for him alone.

He has, in that moment, become someone who will probably never again trust the ruling authorities of his day as completely as he did when he was young and impressionable. He has lost innocence to some extent. The innocent always believe what Daddy and Mommy tell them is true, because they think Daddy and Mommy are infallible. It's not so.