Openminded and unhappy

Being openminded goes with being unhappy generally while being closeminded goes with being happy.

Only if you're unhappy is there any motivation to change, to try to learn new things, etc.

If you're happy, learning something new could be dangerous. It could spoil your happiness. It really could.

But of course the reality is more complicated. People are degrees of happy and unhappy. And lots of people want to get happier (what percentage? 100%? 75%?) Anyone who wants to get happier has a reason to be curious, to be openminded. But for everyone it's just a matter of looking at something and judging the probability that going down that road will likely end up in a greater level on unhappiness as opposed to happiness.

....So these social norms we've got. Are they the right ones? What if, as a result of thinking about it, you find they aren't? What then? Before you bother thinking about such a thing, most people would realize that these social norms are not going to change at all. Thus it would really be a lot better if they just learned to make do. They should adapt to the current social norms. Convince themselves that they're for the best and leave it at that.

They should be closeminded because going down that road will only lead to unhappiness.

Only someone simply unable to "happily" adapt would question the social norms. Only someone unhappy would be that openminded.

Or someone who bizarrely thought that the most important social norm was to question everything. But I doubt anyone actually really believes that.