A touch of intellectual humility

Being open to the limitations of their knowledge can help researchers to
foster interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations.

Intellectual humility involves “the owning of one’s cognitive limitations, a healthy recognition of one’s intellectual debts to others, and low concern for intellectual domination and certain kinds of social status”.
That translates to recognizing the limitations of one’s beliefs and being open to the perspectives of others.

“Somebody who has intellectual humility understands that they aren’t going to simply climb on top of a mountain of knowledge themselves. They recognize it is going to take some help.”

“Intellectual humility can really help us listen to those who don’t have the same ways of knowing as we do.”

In the past decade, studies have shown that intellectual humility is linked to learning, educational achievement and critical thinking. It can also boost open-mindedness and receptivity to differing perspectives — both of which are essential in successful collaborations.

How to apply intellectual humility … Learning and practising basic skills can help in research collaborations.

Interrogate your own ideas, assumptions and beliefs:

• Take the perspective of an outsider and try to poke holes in your own ideas.
• List any doubts about your work.
• Identify gaps in your knowledge and seek out ways to fill them.
  
  Look for the warning signs of insecurity or arrogance:
• Snap judgements.
• Reacting on autopilot.
• A strong feeling that your view of an issue is correct.
• Being closed off to different interpretations of your data.
  
  Listen actively and deeply:
• Be fully present in conversations and limit distractions.
• Focus on what the other person is saying rather than on your response, and strive to understand their meaning.
  
  Respond mindfully:
• Repeat back some of what you’ve heard to check you have understood correctly.
• Ask follow-up questions to understand more deeply.
  
  Respond to critics with humility:
• Take a long pause to avoid reacting defensively.
• Cool off and reflect.
• Ask your critics: “What do I need to consider or read to understand the point you are making?” or “I want to hear your explanation of your criticism — I really want to dive deeper into this.”
  
  Expand your humility skill set:
• Consider an online course, such as one on intellectual humility from the University of Edinburgh, UK, or those on giving and receive feedback offered by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
• Practise effective listening with courses such as those on the professional networking site LinkedIn.

Recognizing that there’s more to learn, together with the humility to listen, lie at the heart of effective collaboration. And intellectual humility can serve as a tool to unite disciplines and cultures in the quest for solutions to complex challenges.

It can be as simple as getting into the habit of asking yourself one question whenever you are tempted to assert your position: “Could I be wrong about this?”

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This article is related to a previous post, discussing how Intellectual humility involves recognizing that there are gaps in one’s knowledge and that one’s current beliefs might be incorrect.