Commentary
Intellectual humility is gaining more attention, writes Daryl Van Tongeren. His assessment of our current culture, when it’s more common to defend your position than change your mind, seems important to consider as we move into 2024 and beyond. Tongeron’s assertion that the human tendency to desire growth while also harboring strong resistance to the <change> that comes with it seems representative of our animal health industry. His article supports several posts in this edition of the AHD Bulletin.
Within yourself, says Tongeron, intellectual humility involves awareness and ownership of the limitations and biases in what you know and how you know it. It requires a willingness to revise your views in light of strong evidence. It means keeping your ego in check. It involves showing that you care more about learning and preserving relationships than about being right or demonstrating intellectual superiority.
Source: The Conversation, December 26, 2023. Link.
Progress requires admitting what you don’t know and seeking to learn something new.
INSIGHTS: It’s hard to swim against cultural norms that reward being right and punish mistakes, says Tongeron. Intellectual humility is associated with greater tolerance toward people with whom you disagree, he says.
Communication, multiple generations, new channel sources, digital platforms, expanding sources of influence, artificial intelligence growth and more call for us to be nimble and grow our intellectual humility like never before.