The Death of Intellectual Humility
Like most of you, I read articles and social media posts from friends and colleagues who have very diverse points of view. It always surprises me, (although it shouldn’t at this point), how snarky or salutary the comments are, depending on how much the reader agrees or disagrees. I am so disappointed with our tendency to revert to black and white thinking when we become fearful.
Fear causes us to perceive threat around every corner. It often masquerades as anger. makes us double down on our position, believing that digging in will make us safe. But it doesn’t. It just creates separation. We become rigid in our labels of “good” (safe) and “bad” (threat). We become righteous in our convictions. We unfriend each other. We stop listening. Intellectual humility and curiosity disappear, the first casualties of fear.
According to criticalthinking.org, intellectual humility is defined as:
Having a consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one’s native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and limitations of one’s viewpoint.
Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs.
Read that definition again.
Can you imagine what our world would look like if we all practiced a bit more intellectual humility? If we respected each other enough to actually listen with the intent of understanding? The wisest people I know intentionally surround themselves with those who have areas of expertise and positions different from their own. The wisest know how to disagree respectfully in the spirit of constructive debate. They are looking for consensus rather than domination. The wisest know they can never know all there is to know. Their intellectual humility promotes openness, connection and access to creative solutions.
I wish we could embrace this way of being in the world. Are you willing to check your level of intellectual humility. Can you be open to exploring the “prejudice and limitations” of your view.? Can you be genuinely open to others’ point of view?
It’s time.