"I, too, am extraordinarily humble."
I'm humbler than you are. Sheesh.
I am extraordinarily-er humbler.
Are You Intellectually Humble?
91–100 of 112 posts
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#92“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
As long as you're not immediately acting on that counsel at worst all you've done is wasted time.
You have wasted time and mental energy you could have used on more productive things. Listening to bad ideas is exhausting.
But listening to someone mediocre doesn't guarantee they'll have bad ideas.
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
> 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. That is a very good sign you are intelectually humble. I see the discussion here veering in many directions but in the end being humble is just being honest to yourself and others about what you know and what you don’t know. Perhaps with the capacity to empathise with people who know…
I always think of the quote from the potter episode of Community, as the main character imagines what his mom's words of advice are:
"Jeff, you're a normal person. There's nothing very special about you at all. You're going to be great at a few things, but really crappy at more. And that takes a lot of the pressure off, so you can live a full, happy life. "
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#95But how can a humble person accomplish something extraordinary? At some point, you gotta have faith in what you're doing, despite all the opposition. Very rarely are accomplishments made traveling a road strewn with flowers.
> But how can a humble person accomplish something extraordinary? At some point, you gotta have faith in what you're doing, despite all the opposition.
Humility means accurate self-assessment. People will argue this point, I suppose, conflating humility with meekness (and meekness with weakness), but I think a distinction is both correct and worthwhile.
Therefore, humble people can accomplish extraordinary things as well as (or better than) anyone, perhaps because of their accurate self assessments. This leads to interconnection (I'm good at X, not at Y) and complementarity: I strengthen what is weak in you and vice versa, and we develop in partnership in a way that could not be done separately.
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#96Depends. Vigorous debate and experimenting does not come from humility. It comes from conviction. Humility is an end game, you can only reach for it when you accept that you are wrong (at the end of the argument) and likewise, when you win and don’t parade it and acknowledge the merits of the other side. But during the process, no, there can be no humility. You have to fight.
> Depends. Vigorous debate and experimenting does not come from humility. It comes from conviction. Humility is an end game, you can only reach for it when you accept that you are wrong (at the end of the argument) and likewise, when you win and don’t parade it and acknowledge the merits of the other side.
This isn't true. Humility is accurate self-assessment, and from here can easily spring conviction, experimentation, and vigorous debate. (I know my opinions on subject X are well formed and tested by trial, error, and experience; that is why I hold such and such an opinion and can debate about it with conviction. It's also why I can take corrective measures and understand what others are saying, etc., etc.)
Indeed, humility is basically a prerequisite to adequate debate. One of the problems of society is that we don't get this.
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#97"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.
the gist of the quote is lost in translation i guess. it's trying to convey that you should assert your knowledge, otherwise, you will get lectured by people with no idea what they are talking about. idiocracy, populism, praise of stupidity etc.
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
I sometimes feel bad to have a prejudice against some pople but realistically i don't have the time and energy to sift through a lot of bad ideas when I can talk to other people who usually have good ideas.
How do you know they're bad ideas if you have not even listened to them?
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#99Reminds me of James 1:19
"... Everyone must be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger".
I've often found this useful to remember when talking to people with different views.
Re: Are You Intellectually Humble?
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
I sometimes feel bad to have a prejudice against some pople but realistically i don't have the time and energy to sift through a lot of bad ideas when I can talk to other people who usually have good ideas.
How do you know they're bad ideas if you have not even listened to them?
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