Post 490: Intellectual Humility

 Intellectual Humility

What is Intellectual Humility?

 Intellectual humility is the ability to recognize and accept one’s own limitations and mistakes, and to be open to the possibility that one’s views may be wrong. This attitude of openness and self-awareness is essential in intellectual pursuits, as it helps to create an environment of learning and growth.

Do people think they are always right? Do they believe that their beliefs could be wrong or are people guilty of Overconfidence bias? Overconfidence bias is the solid belief that a person is always right and never wrong in his belief. Most Americans have Overconfidence bias and rarely believe they are wrong in their beliefs. When a person knows he is flawed, and knows that his beliefs can sometimes be wrong, then this is known as Intellectual Humility. Having Intellectual Humility helps people overcome Overconfidence bias.

The Benefits of Intellectual Humility

One of the major benefits of intellectual humility is that it allows one to be open to different ideas and perspectives. It helps to create an atmosphere of learning and growth, where one can be open to new ideas and perspectives, without feeling threatened or defensive. Additionally, intellectual humility can also help to develop critical thinking skills, as it encourages one to question their own views and conclusions.

Intellectual Humility in Intellectual Pursuits

Intellectual humility is also essential for intellectual pursuits. By recognizing and accepting one’s own limitations, one can be open to new ideas and perspectives, which can lead to profound learning experiences. Additionally, intellectual humility can also help to foster collaboration, as it allows those in a group to appreciate and value each other's perspectives and ideas.

Intellectual Humility in Everyday Life

Intellectual humility can also be beneficial in everyday life. By recognizing and accepting one’s own mistakes, one can avoid making the same mistake again and can instead focus on learning and growth. Additionally, by being open to different ideas and perspectives, one can gain a better understanding of the world around them and can learn to appreciate different opinions and views.

I think the best way to learn about the world is to learn with 'Intellectual Humility'. Just what is it? Snow (2018) defines Intellectual Humility as open-mindedness, curiosity, intellectual perseverance and being able to own your limitations. In other words, if a learner is willing to go out of his comfort zones to learn about what is totally unfamiliar to him/her with an open minded; be willing to accept if he/she is wrong if critiqued; always be curious about taking in new information or new experiences--that to me is the definition of intellectual humility. Snow (2018) states that intellectual humility is a simple acceptance of our human flaws, weaknesses and limitations. 

Van Tongeren (2019) claims that the very act of being humble entails a) an ability to acknowledge one's limitations and abilities; b) an interpersonal space that is 'other' oriented rather than 'self-focused' and c) owning up to one's biases d) prioritizing the well-being of others over yourself.

The opposite of Intellectual Humility is close-mindedness and arrogance. Battaly(2020) defines arrogance as a close-minded learner who is unwilling to engage seriously with an intellectual option or unwilling to revise one's beliefs.  Battaly defines an arrogant learner as someone who under-owns his cognitive shortcomings and over-owns his cognitive strengths. To me, an arrogant learner is someone who is not willing to change his mind due to shifting times or to changing facts/data but is someone who is stuck in the past and sticks to outdated paradigms even if there is evidence to the contrary.

In my teaching, I demonstrate Intellectual Humility to my students by being open-minded by encouraging them to learn about other cultures; to learn the whole story of another person before prejudging them to avoid stereotypes; to look at any problem/ or person from multiple perspectives; to tell my students to think critically by looking at whatever they read from all angles to determine if what they are reading is biased/unbiased. I teach students that whenever they make a claim, they have to back up that claim with credible evidence to avoid bias and I teach students how to present data objectively to write a credible research paper.

I role model humility by owning up to my mistakes. If I gave an incorrect grade, or posted the wrong date in an announcement, I would own up to my mistakes to my students and fix that mistake. I let students know that I am human too. Students appreciate that kind of raw honesty that humility brings to the table. I role model to students how they too can accept the fact that we humans are flawed and we make mistakes. After all, only God is perfect.

The take away lesson is if a learner is close-minded, he does not learn. A learner who is open-minded and has intellectual humility and who is always curious about the world, is the learner who truly learns the material by leaving oneself open to new experiences and new ways of thinking. A true learner learns from multiple perspectives to get the whole story and when he does, he truly can appreciate the diversity of God's kingdom. As the open-minded learner with intellectual humility, 

What does the Bible say about humility?

Proverbs 11:2 ESV /

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. 

Proverbs 18:12 ESV /

Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. 

Philippians 2:3 ESV /

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 

In conclusion, intellectual humility is the ability to recognize and accept one’s own limitations and mistakes, and to be open to the possibility that one’s views may be wrong. This attitude of openness and self-awareness is essential in intellectual pursuits, as it helps to create an environment of learning and growth. Additionally, it can also be beneficial in everyday life, as it allows one to be open to different ideas and perspectives, and to gain a better understanding of the world around them.

 

 

 

References

Battaly, H. (Ed.). (2018). The Routledge Handbook of Virtue Epistemology (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315712550

 Van Tongeren, D. R., Davis, D. E., Hook, J. N., & Witvliet, C. vanOyen. (2019). Humility. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(5), 463–468. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419850153