Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Are You Intellectually Humble?

oa.mg

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 112 posts

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#61

Post by OJFord »

zwkrt wrote: post #54
cheschire wrote: post #10

I’ve noticed in myself and anecdotally in others that a lot of stubbornness in conversation simply comes from the desire for validation. Having someone acknowledge what I’m saying is generally enough to get a conversation moving forward, where ignoring or not responding to my input can cause me to fixate until I recognize what I’m doing and break myself out of it. But if I feel mild validation, even if it is conclude…

Might be a little bit paradoxical from your perspective but this is very self-centered behavior. If someone tells you ”no”, it’s probably not because they don’t like you. People say no when they don’t want something themselves, and it probably has nothing to do with you or your validation.

I think you misread, GP doesn't have a problem with having their ideas rejected, just ignored.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#62

Post by hourago »

qpqpdbdbqpqp wrote: post #26

"The outcome of too much humility is that you end up listening to the counsel of some mediocre individual." Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

Really bad advice. I have learned a lot from people way less experienced than me. Even if I usually know more than some individual I still find things that he may know and I do not.

Let's not talk about classifying an individual as "mediocre". It just seems the old "noble blood" fallacy as if some people is just "better" than others instead of everyone being being complex and with flaws.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#64

Post by 29athrowaway »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #29
qpqpdbdbqpqp wrote: post #26

"The outcome of too much humility is that you end up listening to the counsel of some mediocre individual." Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

Very true. I try to stay humble but at work I definitely have lists of people I always listen to and a (longer) list of people I generally never listen to. Maybe they have a good thought from time to time but I don’t have enough time to listen to all bad ideas to maybe find the one good idea.

What if one of the people you never listen to comes up with a good idea?

The people you listen to is always right and the ones you don't listen to are always wrong?

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#65

Post by 29athrowaway »

qpqpdbdbqpqp wrote: post #26

"The outcome of too much humility is that you end up listening to the counsel of some mediocre individual." Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

The "mediocre individual" (terminology from the quote above) might still have something valuable to share.

If you fight a drunk person throwing random punches, there might be still a probability to get knocked out because within that randomness there is a probability of a perfect punch.

Experts are often right but occasionally they can be wrong. Skilled competitors often win but occasionally they can lose, even to beginners.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#66

Post by hourago »

booleandilemma wrote: post #52

I've found that too much humility gets you bullied, or people try to take advantage of you, instead of playing nice. I'm talking about in the workplace, but it's been consistent at every place I've worked. I have to act slightly like an asshole otherwise people come at me like wolves.

> I've found that too much humility gets you bullied

That depends a lot on your environment. There are many companies were this happens, upper management nurtures an unhealthy environment were abuse is common and people need to be defensive.

If you ever work in a healthy place, or if you have good friends, the possibility to just lower all barriers and be humble is liberating and it fosters creativity.

> I have to act slightly like an asshole otherwise people come at me like wolves.

I am sorry to hear that. I have worked in both kind of places and the mental health going home is vastly different. I hope you get a better working place that not only is healthier but will allow you to learn more, be more creative and productive instead of losing your time acting like an asshole because is required.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#67

Post by tartoran »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #29
qpqpdbdbqpqp wrote: post #26

"The outcome of too much humility is that you end up listening to the counsel of some mediocre individual." Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

Very true. I try to stay humble but at work I definitely have lists of people I always listen to and a (longer) list of people I generally never listen to. Maybe they have a good thought from time to time but I don’t have enough time to listen to all bad ideas to maybe find the one good idea.

It has nothing to do with being humble though. Being humble is about being honest with yourself or others. Learning who to listen to and take advice from is a different problem.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#68

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #50
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #27

A bit unrelated, but one pet peeve of mine these days is the explosion of humble brag. It used to be a little annoying, but it's now everywhere. Name dropping, inserting casually possessions, social status or achievements, using "I'm humbled by" all the time... Doing your best to not sound pretentious is great. I wish I worked on that way sooner. But faking humility, often badly, is such a mood killer for me. I also…

Stay off of LinkedIn, then. That seems to be the place people practice it[0]. I don't humblebrag, and it doesn't win me friends. There's some things that I'm really, really good at, and lots of things that I'm mediocre, to really bad, at. I don't hide any of it. Most folks on venues like this, assume I'm arrogant (I'm not). I just don't pretend to be bad at stuff I'm good at, and don't pretend to be good at stuff I'm…

BTW: I really enjoyed this site (linked from the above Twitter account): https://viralpostgenerator.com

I won't share mine (this is a professional venue, and my "viral" post was definitely not professional).

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#69

Post by the_only_law »

29athrowaway wrote: post #65
qpqpdbdbqpqp wrote: post #26

"The outcome of too much humility is that you end up listening to the counsel of some mediocre individual." Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

The "mediocre individual" (terminology from the quote above) might still have something valuable to share. If you fight a drunk person throwing random punches, there might be still a probability to get knocked out because within that randomness there is a probability of a perfect punch. Experts are often right but occasionally they can be wrong. Skilled competitors often win but occasionally they can lose, even to be…

Probably not as bad as the mediocre advice you’ll get from yourself as an arrogant narcissist anyway.

Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?

#70

Post by dasil003 »

29athrowaway wrote: post #64
spaetzleesser wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true. I try to stay humble but at work I definitely have lists of people I always listen to and a (longer) list of people I generally never listen to. Maybe they have a good thought from time to time but I don’t have enough time to listen to all bad ideas to maybe find the one good idea.

What if one of the people you never listen to comes up with a good idea? The people you listen to is always right and the ones you don't listen to are always wrong?

Always be listening. But when seeking people out and prioritizing who to spend time with, consider their track record.
Post reply on HN