Humility comes in many shapes and sizes. One type of humility that I find to be particularly attractive is Intellectual Humility.
I think of Intellectual Humility as being a quality one must maintain when progressing in any field. It is the act of appreciating that, although one may have made considerable intellectual progress, that does not grant one an "all-seeing eye". Rather, there are others with vastly greater knowledge, particularly in fields
distant to one's own.
Anyway, I mentioned a Neurosurgeon - where does he come into this?
Well, I had a meeting with a Consultant Neurosurgeon this week. He started working in Neurosurgery (that is, surgery of the brain and nervous system), when I was born. So, you can imagine, this is a pretty clever guy with decades of experience and a vast amount of knowledge accumulated. Despite this, as we conversed, he mentioned a young PhD student with whom he was working and made a comment in passing
that they knew far more than he would ever know about different tumours, their molecular markers, etc.
Not only this, but throughout the conversation, he made it clear that there were many questions he did not have great answers for and would love to learn more about. These included the questioning of what he currently does in practice, implying that he was willing to accept that what he does might not be the best possible practice. He did not want to sound smart. He did not want to impress me with inappropriate medical
jargon. These are simply the attributes of an amateur...
Lesson: When you first begin to develop as a learner, or as a professional, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you know everything. We like to be defensive when others flaunt their knowledge, particularly if it seems like they know more than us. However, this is merely an attempt to satisfy our ego, which can actually limit our potential for learning and/or professional development.
As an extension of this, the true student of life, or of any specific subject or field, places truth, progress, and effectiveness above the maintenance of their current views or practices. The only way to develop to your full potential is to recognise that the signalling of knowledge is inferior to the progress of knowledge and/or the utility of that knowledge in the real world. Being intellectually humble is one piece of
that puzzle, so, the next time you end up in a position where you feel your views are being challenged or you are trying to defend your understanding of the world, remember the following questions...
Do you want to actually do your best? If you do, the pursuit of truth should be placed above the defence of your current views, especially if the truthfulness of your beliefs directly influence your decisions.
Are you trying to maintain and justify your current "knowledge"? This is a verificationist approach to knowledge creation and, unfortunately, can leave you with a poorer understanding of the world and thus poorer decision making.
From a health & fitness perspective, let's remain united in the pursuit of truth, reason, and progress, rather than being divided into our respective camps (e.g. the "low carb" camp, the "always train to failure" camp, the "cardio is for bitches" camp, etc.)
