On the Two Sources of Openness

Material versus Spiritual Riches

Rural people are closed, and city folks are open. At least, that’s the message urban-centric media keep repeating over and over. But the false dichotomy of open vs. closed is an urban misconception. Instead of accepting it, we should consider the two sources of openness — an openness to new worldly experiences, and an openness to our spiritual inner world.

Documentary filmmakers, like most people in media and journalism, tend to come from the big city. And when they go out to document rural or nomadic peoples, they invariably call their subjects ‘closed’. They say rural people yet content with living in small communities have closed themselves off from the greater world. Nomads, too, still clinging to ancient traditions, have turned their backs to progress.