Openness refers to a very general philosophical position from which some individuals and organizations operate, often highlighted by a decision-making process recognizing communal management by distributed stakeholders (users/producers/contributors) rather than a centralized authority (owners, experts, boards of directors, etc.)
Openness could be a synonym of :
- Open system : Openness to experience, wiki, direct democracy, open spirituality, respect for all other beings, etc. (fully open)
- Transparency : openness in a utilitarian view : economical openness, open economic or politic data, etc. (lower degree of openness)
Famous quotes containing the word openness:
“Allowing children to spew forth whatever is on their minds in the name of openness only creates an illusion of family closeness.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility we have the opportunity to labor for freedom, to demand of ourselves and our comrades, an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstacy.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)