Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a quality our elite lack, and therefore we also lack, is humility. Which makes them and us fragile. The expert class forges the path. Why should an expert have humility? Its not like they have ever been wrong, that their attacks on outliers has slowed scientific progress, or their resistance to paradigm shift has hindered technological advancement? Then again, there was that time “the Science” called tectonic plate shift absurd, the round Earth theory heresy and executed Socrates for questioning the gods. Old man Schopenhauer once said, “A new idea is first ridiculed, then attacked and finally accepted as self evident.” This is made possible by experts who lack any sense of humility whatsoever. It is the absence of humility that really holds us back, scientifically, politically and morally.
People who have studied a thing so much… they know everything there is to know about it, naturally lack humility in that subject. Moreover, they project that lack of humility, or in their eyes, competence, to others who have studied equally in their field. This creates a system where humility is absent, even in the face of obvious mistakes. I won’t point out your logical fallacies if you don’t point out mine. This allows them to nurture, husband and grow their egos into giants. Someone with an inflated ego and utterly lacks humility is not a person open to constructive criticism. Especially of their cherished notions. This could be the source of resistance to change as Kuhn suggested in his theory of Paradigm Shift. This is natural to man however, and so cannot be changed, only harnessed or mitigated.
In debate there is a fallacy called, Appeal to false authority, or in the case of authorities that lack humility, appeal to genuine authority is also a logical fallacy. Because even genuine authority is subject to correction, unless the authority is omniscient, therefore inhuman. Since everyone we deal with on a daily basis, is human, we can presume they are all subject to error. So, the person with an inflated ego and the lack of humility that comes naturally from expertise in a subject, is also subject to error. Since they are fallible human beings, their word cannot be taken as omniscient, yet it often is, and we are told it is, even by experts in other fields. Therefore, appealing mindlessly to any authority, even “legitimate” authority, is a logical fallacy, since everyone is prone to being wrong now and then.
We are not blameless, we follow our leaders, and so also suffer from a dearth of humility. We idolize those without humility and even honor people who are prideful about it. Emulating people we are told are good, smart, athletic, etc… even in the face of evidence to the opposite. How often does the media lionize someone who is a deeply good person though? Or do they more often than not, honor experts, celebrities and perverts? Which makes believing the media a perilous thing. Instead of following our leaders, who have proven themselves inept, corrupt and egotistic, follow those who have proven themselves good, like Jesus Christ… pick up our burdens and carry them without whining. Everyone has them. Accept with humility that we are human beings, prone to injury, oppression and error.
It is not a weakness to be humble. Humility is a strength. It reduces the ego to a point where it can be managed. People who are humble live better more satisfying lives. Egoists are always stressed, because their world is perpetually in danger of a truth popping their bubble. They resist innovation like the plague, because to their ego, it is worse than the plague. It is an indictment of their life’s work. It is not hard to see why people become egoists when they study a field to the point of expertise. Rather than following the media’s advice to ape the selfish, and therefore stultified, it would serve us better to emulate those who are humble and lack ego. The humble don’t have egos endangered by truth. Which means, that which appears to be a weakness, is in actuality a strength.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
