A story about Socrates highlights the essence of humility. When asked who the wisest person in Athens was, the Oracle of Delphi said Socrates. Socrates said this couldn’t be true because he knew nothing. By admitting his ignorance, Socrates confirmed the oracle’s judgment.

Humility is acknowledging our limitations, ignorance, and mistakes. This virtue, paradoxically, is a foundation for learning, which leads to knowledge and wisdom. Of course, we should not aspire to know nothing. Recognizing how little we know encourages the constant learning needed to live well. Humility fosters openness to new ideas, learning from mistakes, and empathy. It also helps avoid negative characteristics such as arrogance.

Humility appeals to me because it seems to be a rational perspective in a complicated world. Anyone taking a science class knows there is much more complexity to the physical world than what is apparent to our senses. The same is true for the world of humans. Every personal, social, or political issue has more depth and nuance than appears initially. I regularly conclude that much in life is not simple, and I have much to learn.

Humility also involves accepting the possibility of limits to what we can know and understand. Despite remarkable success in human’s ability to unlock the secrets of nature, there may be phenomena beyond our minds’ ability to understand and instruments to measure. There is even evidence that measurement itself changes what is being measured. It is false hubris to believe we can both detect and understand the full complexity of the universe.

For me, this perspective affects my view of religion and god. I am a lifelong atheist. Evidence, logic, and reason seem to reinforce my view that God does not exist. Yet, I have to admit that God could exist. My cognitive limitations may mean the existence of God or some higher power is simply beyond me. I could be wrong. I have many intelligent friends who tell me that I am.

Avoiding conceptual and psychological traps is vital to learning and gaining wisdom. Humility helps. For example, a common and debilitating intellectual trap is ideology. Ideology is a system of ideas, beliefs, or values that explains how the world works and guides opinions and actions. Ideologies’s appeal is simplification. Complex situations can have simple answers that are easy to communicate. Once adopted, ideologies reduce the need for learning and critical thinking. Correct opinion and action for any situation come easily from the ideology’s principles. One doesn’t have to deal with the messy complexity of most situations. This effect is seen in political ideologies and some religions. Ideologies foster certainty and rigidity. Humility helps avoid this by reminding us that we may be missing critical information and we could be wrong. It reinforces the idea of wisdom based on deep understanding and constant learning. From this perspective, ideologies seem overly simplistic.

Arrogance, conceit, and moral superiority hinder gaining wisdom and should be avoided. Practicing humility helps avoid these impediments. It is hard to be arrogant while understanding that we are always missing information and could be wrong in our judgment. A little doubt helps avoid moral superiority.

However, humility shouldn’t lead to endless debate and indecision. Decisions are always made, and actions are taken without perfect information. Humility helps us pause long enough to understand the context of our choices and gather enough information to avoid rookie mistakes. But mistakes will occur. Humility makes it easier to recognize and admit our mistakes and to learn from them.

The value of humility took time for me to understand and appreciate. By nature, I am questioning, doubting, and self-critical. While action-oriented and willing to take risks, I often fought the feeling that I didn’t know what I was doing. Lack of confidence is frequently an impediment to social and professional success. People naturally follow those who project confidence in what they are doing. Part of growing up for me was learning to be the opposite of humble. I had to develop confidence in my knowledge, abilities, and judgments. I also had to project that confidence to achieve my goals.

However, there is the opposite problem with confidence. Confidence can lead to ignoring advice and new information. It can blind people to recognizing mistakes and learning from them. We can be less open to new ideas and uninterested in the views of others. Confidence in the extreme can lead to arrogance.

In time, I realized that balance was needed. Humility has many benefits for living well yet when taken to extremes, it can inhibit action. There is always more information to gather and other perspectives to consider. Humility can lead to paralyzing doubt. The trick is to balance the two. Have enough humility to get its benefits. Have enough confidence to take action in the face of uncertainty. There is good evidence in the business world that leaders who have doubts and may even feel like imposters are more successful because they tend to listen better and learn more quickly.

Humility has helped me be more empathetic and less quickly judgmental. It has allowed me to accept other people and their beliefs, even if I am convinced they are wrong. It is easy to demonize someone who has different beliefs and opinions. There have been several instances where I have confronted with people I believe are doing harmful and wrong things. I don’t want to abandon my convictions by ignoring bad behavior. However, remembering humility allows me to admit there is a chance I am wrong or at least don’t fully understand the situation. My response to wrongdoing can be more compassionate and less angry.