Intellectual Humility

I can think of few things more important for the world than a lesson on intellectual humility. We seem to thrive on dogmatism, extremism, and propaganda. Our opinions gives us a feeling of significance, purpose, and definition, and we won't let go of them easily. We remain, whether passively or actively, in a state of conflict.

Whether we protect our beliefs from scrutiny under the guise of faith or fact, I think one of our biggest problems as semi-rational beings concerns our discomfort and distrust of opposing points of view. It's as though we're geared to presume our opponents are either ignorant, irrational, or disingenuous. While we, of course, presume ourselves sufficiently informed, sufficiently rational, and well-intending. We leave very little room for error.

Could it be that our views –no matter how simple and straightforward they appear to us– are potentially oversimplified? Can we ever presume to know enough? Can we ever presume to be perfectly rational?

Intellectual humility has become an important message to me. Albeit, one might consider this message a form of propaganda in itself. However, after swinging from one extreme (faith) to another (skeptic), I both experienced and witnessed a thought pattern which seemed more fundamental than all the words, arguments, and rhetoric surrounding it.

In the spirit of consistency, I could be mistaken about the need for intellectual humility. But, for now, it appears to me that humanity suffers from severe epistemic limitations. Unless one claims to be omniscient, knowing all possible interpretations of the world and recognizing all logical implications of them, I think this message applies to you. I think it applies even moreso for we laypeople. 

The sooner we release our death grip on faith and facts, the sooner we can begin to explore the world together and see what's really out there. The sooner we stop accusing, criticizing, and preaching, the sooner we can start listening, learning, and engaging in meaningful dialogue.