Intellectual Humility

Knowing What You Don't Know

Intellectual humility isn't self-doubt—it's accurate assessment of what you know and don't know. It's one of the strongest defenses against manipulation because it removes the leverage that certainty provides.

Components of Intellectual Humility

Acknowledge Fallibility: Recognize that past confident beliefs have been wrong Distinguish Familiarity from Understanding: Recognizing a topic isn't the same as understanding it Appreciate Complexity: Simple explanations for complex phenomena are usually incomplete Update on Evidence: New information should change confidence levels

The Dunning-Kruger Protection

The Dunning-Kruger effect describes how limited knowledge creates overconfidence—we don't know enough to know what we're missing. Intellectual humility actively counters this:

• "What am I likely missing?"
• "Who knows more about this than me?"
• "What would convince me I'm wrong?"
• "How confident should I actually be?"