Principle: Your brain is impressive, and it is also a narrative machine with bugs.
Humility is not self-hatred.
Humility is accurate self-knowledge: you have blind spots, like everyone.
What Your Brain Naturally Does
Your mind:
- prefers stories to statistics,
- notices evidence that supports what you already believe,
- protects your identity,
- and confuses confidence with correctness.
That's not a moral failure. It's a human baseline.
The Failure Mode: Ego Turns "I Might Be Wrong" Into "I Must Be Right"
When you're defending your identity, you stop learning.
Certainty feels good. It also shuts down curiosity fast.
Warning signs:
- You interrupt to correct.
- You hunt for "gotchas."
- You feel relief when someone else looks stupid.
- You argue like it's war.
The Two Tools
1) Say the phrase: "I could be wrong."
2) Ask the question: "What would change my mind?"
If the answer is "nothing," you're not reasoning. You're performing.
How To Disagree Like A Grownup
- Steelman before you criticize: state their view better than they did.
- Ask for their strongest source, not their weakest example.
- Admit the best counterpoint you've heard.
- Separate the claim from the person.
The Practice (This Week)
- Say "I could be wrong" once per day, out loud.
- Replace one hot take with a real question.
- When you feel the urge to dunk, choose to understand.
Reflection (Optional)
What belief do you defend mostly because it's yours?