Was Christopher Columbus a bold adventurer, expanding human horizons? Or more like a venture imperialist, who happily threw open the doors to an orgy of genocide?

It’s interesting to me that the more comfortable we are with America, the more inclined we are to lionize Columbus. And it’s this comfort part that should concern us, I think.

Because whenever we take the popular, comfortable point of view, we don’t get anywhere. Or the other way around—whenever we venture beyond the horizon of what is acceptable, we always discover something, usually by accident.

Let’s not forget, discovering America was an accident. For what he set out to do, Columbus might be considered a failure. But he certainly made the most of what he encountered. What more can we ask?

Just goes to show that no discovery is a failure, unless we have our minds made up about what we were going to find. So if your mind isn’t made up about Columbus, applaud your own spirit of discovery.

And to see just how open-minded you are on the issue, try taking the opposite side of the argument. If just for today. You’ll baffle your friends, maybe even open their minds. And you’re sure to discover something fresh about Columbus.

It might help to think of it this way. Our minds are like our beds. We can’t make them up while we’re using them.

See also: The Wright Stuff

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