Intellectual humility is the ability to admit that one might be mistaken. 

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It helps to combat arrogance and overconfidence. Intellectual humility allows us to recognize that our ideas may be wrong, that the evidence we are using could be inaccurate, or that our current beliefs could be outdated.

 

Intellectual humility contributes to greater civility in public and private discourse, because when we are humble, we tend not to have an attitude of “my way or the highway.”  Intellectual humility makes us less likely to simply dismiss others’ views or be offended by views different from our own.