#epistemic-humility

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#philosophy
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
10 hours ago

Some people who appear completely unbothered by criticism haven't stopped caring what others think. They've just moved the audience inside, and now they answer to a version of themselves that never gives them a day off - Silicon Canals

Internalized criticism often masquerades as resilience, leading to preemptive self-critique before external feedback is received.
fromNature
14 hours ago

Hit a glitch in your research? Some 'night science' thinking could move it forward

The terminology of day science and night science, introduced by François Jacob, helps scientists navigate challenges in the lab by encouraging a shift in mindset towards creativity and abstract thinking.
OMG science
Science
fromNature
1 day ago

We need to talk about failure in science

Failure is an integral part of scientific research, yet it is often overlooked in discussions and funding structures.
Growth hacking
fromEntrepreneur
1 day ago

How My Optimism Led to My Most Expensive Leadership Mistake

Excusing negative behavior based on potential can lead to poor leadership decisions and organizational costs.
Roam Research
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

Return of the Research Notebook in Psychology

Lab notebooks are essential for accountability and credibility in psychological research, yet many psychologists do not utilize them.
#decision-making
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

Taking the Pressure Off of Decision-Making

Decision-making is often stressful due to unconscious biases and insufficient information, but clarity and self-awareness can ease the process.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

Taking the Pressure Off of Decision-Making

Decision-making is often stressful due to unconscious biases and insufficient information, but clarity and self-awareness can ease the process.
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

How Mistakes Springboard Conscientious People's Growth

Many mistakes move us forward more than backward. Conscientious people often experience a springboard effect following mistakes, whereby fixing the mistakes accelerates growth faster than if they'd never made any missteps.
Productivity
Health
fromFortune
2 days ago

Most people worldwide believe at least one of 6 common medical myths | Fortune

Health misinformation is widespread, with 70% of people globally believing at least one debunked health claim.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
3 days ago

The Question Behind the Question

Emotional questions often underlie technical inquiries, highlighting the need for addressing patients' emotional needs in medical conversations.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
12 hours ago

Some people don't stay quiet in arguments because they're calm, they stay quiet because they ran the math years ago and concluded that saying the thing costs more than swallowing it, and they've been paying the cheaper price so long they forgot it was a choice - Silicon Canals

Silence in arguments often results from an automatic cost-benefit analysis rather than emotional mastery or composure.
Philosophy
fromBig Think
1 day ago

The idea of "theories of everything" may be fundamentally wrong

Quantum physics and General Relativity are fundamentally incompatible, leading to a search for a unifying theory that has yet to succeed.
Relationships
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says the most powerful words you can learn aren't 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you', they're 'that doesn't work for me', said without explanation or apology - Silicon Canals

Setting boundaries is essential for personal well-being and requires clarity and confidence.
#intelligence
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

You know you've encountered a high-level thinker if they make you feel smarter after the conversation, not dumber - because mediocre intellects use their intelligence to win, and high-level thinkers use it to help, and the real test of a great mind isn't how impressive they sound but how many people leave rooms they were in feeling more capable than they walked in - Silicon Canals

Real intelligence enhances others' understanding rather than intimidating them, fostering collaboration and mutual growth.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

Research suggests that high intelligence doesn't protect against bad decisions - it makes people better at constructing convincing justifications for the bad decisions they were already going to make - Silicon Canals

Higher intelligence can lead to greater polarization rather than alignment on contested facts.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 day ago

You know you've encountered a high-level thinker if they make you feel smarter after the conversation, not dumber - because mediocre intellects use their intelligence to win, and high-level thinkers use it to help, and the real test of a great mind isn't how impressive they sound but how many people leave rooms they were in feeling more capable than they walked in - Silicon Canals

Real intelligence enhances others' understanding rather than intimidating them, fostering collaboration and mutual growth.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 weeks ago

Research suggests that high intelligence doesn't protect against bad decisions - it makes people better at constructing convincing justifications for the bad decisions they were already going to make - Silicon Canals

Higher intelligence can lead to greater polarization rather than alignment on contested facts.
Mental health
fromFast Company
6 days ago

How to navigate uncertainty in an increasingly uncertain world

Artificial intelligence advancements are creating job insecurity and uncertainty for millions, compounded by geopolitical tensions and personal health challenges.
Relationships
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

I'm 37 and I finally understand why I keep saying yes to things I want to say no to - psychology calls it "fawning" and once you see it you can't unsee it - Silicon Canals

Fawning behavior leads to difficulty in saying no, causing resentment despite self-awareness and understanding of its irrationality.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 hour ago

Psychology says deep thinkers don't realize the reason they feel disconnected from their own life isn't depression - it's that observation became a shelter they forgot how to leave - Silicon Canals

Chronic detachment often misdiagnosed as depression or stress may stem from a learned behavior of observing rather than experiencing life.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
4 days ago

Why Hybrid Sovereignty Starts Inside

Hybrid sovereignty connects strategic autonomy to the cognitive and ethical architecture of people, emphasizing the importance of human judgment in an AI-driven world.
Relationships
fromPsychology Today
4 days ago

Just Because We Disagree Doesn't Mean You're Wrong

Disagreement often stems from differing values rather than faulty reasoning, highlighting the importance of understanding what others care about.
Relationships
fromSilicon Canals
5 days ago

Psychology suggests the deepest sign someone actually respects you isn't how they treat you when things are good - it's whether they tell you the truth when the truth is uncomfortable, because most people will choose your comfort over your growth every single time to protect the relationship, and the person who risks your temporary anger to offer you something honest has decided that who you're becoming matters more to them than how you feel about them today - Silicon Canals

Honesty that prioritizes growth over comfort is a profound act of love often avoided in relationships.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

Psychology says people who genuinely know their worth don't announce it or defend it, they operate with a quiet certainty that makes negotiation, justification, and proving themselves feel like a foreign language - Silicon Canals

Genuine confidence stems from self-awareness, not the need to broadcast one's worth or achievements.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 weeks ago

What's the Difference Between Wisdom and Critical Thinking?

Wisdom and critical thinking are distinct, with wisdom arising from experience and offering long-term insights, while critical thinking can foster wisdom over time.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
2 days ago

There's a specific kind of person who apologizes for things that weren't their fault, and it isn't low self-esteem. It's a preemptive fee they learned to pay to keep situations from escalating into something worse - Silicon Canals

Apologies can serve as a preemptive tool to de-escalate potential conflict, rather than solely indicating low self-esteem.
Philosophy
fromBig Think
2 weeks ago

The important role of ignorance in building a better society

Total freedom without laws leads to chaos; social contracts are essential for order and security in society.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
3 days ago

Psychology says the loneliest form of love isn't being unloved its being adored for a version of yourself you've been performing so long that the real you has started to feel like the imposter - Silicon Canals

The worst loneliness is being loved for a false self that no longer exists.
#metacognition
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 weeks ago

What About Knowledge That No Longer Knows What It Is For?

Knowledge and education have become distorted by managerial frameworks, leading to a superficial understanding of their true purpose and value.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
4 days ago

Psychology suggests people who follow through on small promises to themselves aren't just building habits - they're constructing the internal evidence that they can be trusted, which is the actual foundation of lasting self-discipline - Silicon Canals

Self-discipline is shaped by accumulated evidence of personal commitments rather than mere willpower.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
5 days ago

Psychology says people who constantly apologize for things that aren't their fault aren't being polite. They grew up in an environment where someone else's bad mood was always their responsibility to fix - Silicon Canals

Over-apologizing often stems from childhood experiences that teach individuals to manage others' emotions, leading to chronic self-blame and anxiety.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
6 days ago

The people who say they don't care what others think are almost never telling the whole truth. What they actually did was move the audience inward, and now they perform for a private version of the same judges they claim to have escaped. - Silicon Canals

Indifference to others' opinions often masks internalized judgment rather than true freedom from social conformity.
fromThe Atlantic
4 weeks ago

How to Believe in God

Witnessing the presence of God at a bus stop in 2011, I felt overwhelmed by something indescribably majestic, which bared my soul to a profound realization.
Philosophy
Science
fromBig Think
1 month ago

The right way to be a scientific contrarian

Scientific advancement occurs through incremental improvements and revolutionary paradigm shifts that replace foundational understanding with entirely new conceptions of natural phenomena.
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

We Don't Know How Little We Know

This is a tough time for politics in America. But it's an extremely interesting time for those of us who wrestle with the nature of reality. As a psychiatrist who has treated people with psychosis for over 20 years, I have lived in the uncomfortable space between their experience of reality and mine and I have worked to change beliefs that are some of the most resistant to change: delusions.
US politics
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
3 weeks ago

People Don't Just Update Beliefs, They Test Them

Understanding psychological change requires recognizing the role of control and mastery in actively pursuing change despite familiar limitations.
Public health
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Why Critical Thinking Is the Most Important Skill in Your Life

Critical thinking protects health, enables breakthroughs by questioning assumptions, combats cognitive biases, and can be trained through source-checking and embracing being wrong.
Medicine
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Drs. Dunning and Kruger and 300 Million More Health Experts

Minimally informed individuals often overestimate their knowledge, leading to the spread of health misinformation through public platforms and rejection of expert consensus.
fromFast Company
2 months ago

How 'disgustingly educated' are you?

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, instead of sharing clothing hauls or skincare routines, creators are sharing their book stacks or media diets promising to make their viewers "disgustingly educated" in a matter of minutes. For further optimization potential, take note of these brain hacks to improve memory (so that your time cracking open Plato's Republic won't go to waste).
Books
Psychology
fromFast Company
3 weeks ago

Stop trying to 'educate' people into changing. Science proves it doesn't work

False assumptions hinder change; simply providing information does not guarantee behavior change.
Higher education
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Why "Do Your Own Research" Is Bad Advice

Research requires at least a rigorous literature review; reading to inform oneself is educating, not full research, which demands specific review skills and evaluation.
US politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

When Everyone Agrees, Nobody Sees

A multicultural military harnesses immigrant experiences and diverse perspectives to strengthen national defense and improve collective decision-making.
fromBig Think
1 month ago

How our view of "fundamental" has evolved over time

In antiquity, many opined about "the elements" in combination. Around 2500 years ago, Leucippus and Democritus founded the idea of atoms. Perhaps everything, they opined, was composed of indivisible building blocks. In the late 1700s, hydrogen and oxygen were discovered. Circa 1804, John Dalton revived atomism to explain chemical behavior. Then in 1869, Mendeleev developed the periodic table: organizing the atoms.
Science
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

What Is the 'Critical' in Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, evaluate, and make judgments for decision-making, not merely critiquing or criticizing ideas.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
4 weeks ago

Beyond Suspicion: Why We Doubt Greatness-and What It Says About Us

Mental mastery and team trust are crucial for success in cycling, transcending past performance and skepticism.
Artificial intelligence
fromZDNET
2 months ago

What Aristotle and Socrates can teach us about using generative AI

AI language models can erode human creativity, while other AI models and local intelligence can strengthen critical thinking and resilience amid geopolitical and cyber threats.
Mental health
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

When Faced With Liars, Skepticism Can Help

Abusive cultures use sustained lies and gaslighting to destabilize targets; strengthen your brain's lie-detection strategies to protect mental health.
Mindfulness
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Why We Ignore Our Own Advice

People easily give advice about difficult decisions to others but struggle to follow their own wisdom when facing personal risk and discomfort.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Why Some Scientific Debates Never End

Complex questions involving values cannot be definitively settled by evidence alone, as different priorities lead experts to emphasize different findings from the same data.
Science
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Unbearable Fear of Psi: When Skepticism Shifts to Denial

Scientific investigation of extraordinary human experiences encounters emotional resistance and dismissal that exceeds standard methodological critique, reflecting deeper discomfort with certain research topics rather than legitimate scientific skepticism.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

I was teaching virtue and knowledge while lying on the side

Self-deception enables vice through small permissions that gradually erode moral boundaries, as demonstrated through infidelity rationalized during relationship separation.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

Making good choices when life gets messy - practical wisdom relies on human judgment, not rules

Practical wisdom involves making sound judgments in complex situations where rules are unclear and competing values conflict.
Philosophy
fromBig Think
2 months ago

"Epistemic trespassing": Why brilliant people can say idiotic things

Experts can overreach beyond their expertise, making unreliable or harmful claims when they assume competence transfers across unrelated fields.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Embracing Intellectual Humility in Political Conversations

Intellectual humility recognizes knowledge limits, seeks other perspectives, and restrains certainty, tribalism, extremism, and contempt in political judgment.
Philosophy
fromPhilosophynow
2 months ago

A Very Short History of Critical Thinking

Sophistry prioritizes winning and approval over truth, using deceptive, manipulative arguments that undermine ethics and honest critical thinking.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

How and Why We Cross Lines We Never Thought We Would

Gradual adaptation in relationships can imperceptibly shift personal boundaries, causing people to cross lines they once believed inviolable through a series of small, seemingly harmless adjustments.
Philosophy
fromBig Think
1 month ago

The philosophy of indoctrination and how to fix it

Indoctrination occurs when beliefs are sealed off from questioning through prepackaged instructions that frame scrutiny as irrational or immoral, preventing rational evaluation of counterevidence.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

A Commonsense Critique of A Priori Metaphysics

Claims that metaphysics, rather than science, is the necessary foundation for scientific knowledge are false and revive pre-Enlightenment mystic scholasticism.
Psychology
fromSilicon Canals
1 month ago

Psychologists explain that the urge to downplay your own accomplishments immediately after stating them is almost never humility. It's a learned safety behavior from environments where visibility invited either correction or competition. - Silicon Canals

Self-deprecation following accomplishments stems from fear-based psychological defense mechanisms rather than genuine humility, learned through childhood experiences that punished visible success.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

The Psychology of Holding On to Beliefs

Beliefs tie to identity and belonging, resist direct challenge, and change slowly through emotionally safe relationships and education addressing emotion, meaning, and uncertainty.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

Why Engage with the Past? Philosophy and Its History

Philosophy departments distinguish between contemporary theoretical and practical philosophy addressing current issues, and history of philosophy studying outdated theories from past philosophers.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Feeling of Learning Can Be a Psychological Illusion

Cognitive fluency—the ease of processing information—creates an illusion of learning that often fails to translate into actual skill or long-term retention.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

The Humanities Challenge: Expanding the Circle of Philosophy

Philosophy offers transformative insights and vision into human life, and public humanities must evolve beyond traditional academic formats to make philosophy accessible to broader audiences through innovative, engaging methods.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

How Ancient Philosophy Lost Its Mind-Twice

The shift from Classical Attic to Koine Greek correlated with a philosophical simplification from Plato's multipart psyche to the Stoics' unitary rational mind.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Intuition Asks for Courage; Impulse Demands Relief

Quiet, spacious gut feelings often indicate intuition; sensation-driven, urgent urges seeking immediate payoff usually indicate impulsivity.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 months ago

Science Denial: From Post-Truth to Post-Trust

Many citizens adopt dangerous, willfully irrational beliefs—science denial and misinformation erode evidence-based decision-making in liberal democracies.
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

If Justice Doesn't Exist, Then Numbers Don't Either

A drawn circle is at least something physical. You can see it, touch it, erase it. The skeptic can still say, "Circles are grounded in physical reality. Justice is different; it's just an idea in your head." So let's talk about the number two. Point to it. Not two apples, not two fingers, not a numeral on a page-that's just a symbol.
Philosophy
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
2 months ago

I'm a philosopher who tries to see the best in others - but I know there are limits

Interpreting others charitably—seeing them as protagonists who do their best—promotes understanding, cooperation, and productive learning across differences.
Philosophy
fromFast Company
2 months ago

Why AI can't automate science, according to a philosopher

AI aids scientific workflows yet cannot replace human scientists because it relies on human-curated data and lacks commonsense reasoning.
Philosophy
fromSilicon Canals
2 months ago

8 things people do trying to seem intellectual that actually make educated people cringe - Silicon Canals

Performative intellectualism—jargon, name-dropping, and overcomplication—undermines credibility; genuine intelligence communicates simply and uses precision only when necessary.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

The Hidden Cost of Being 'Rational' All the Time

Reason should regulate and partner with emotion rather than suppress it; using rationality to avoid emotional responsibility damages judgment and relationships.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Is Metaphysics Useful?

Analytic metaphysics often relies on armchair intuition and common sense, making it unreliable and potentially obstructive compared with empirically grounded science.
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