Intellectual humility is good for you. Here’s one way to achieve it.

A slogan from the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh

Call it what you want: intellectual humility, open-mindedness, epistemic curiosity. It’s the ability to hold your views lightly, to be able to see things from the point of view of others. 

We are living amidst a pandemic of certainty, where the algorithms reward “conflict entrepreneurs” peddling hot takes. But enlightened self-interest would dictate avoiding this stance. Research shows that open-mindedness is associated with decreased anxiety as well as increased professional success. 

The virtues of intellectual humility have been extolled by everyone from St. Francis to W.B. Yeats to the Buddha, who talked about being an analyst instead of a dogmatist. 

But how to get there? One strategy comes from the late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. (A pronouncer for the curious: tick-naught-hawn.) He would tell his students to put a sign up on the wall that said, “Are you sure?”

Take that in. Are you sure?

Imagine how useful it would be if you could get that into your bones. It’s definitely a contender for my next tattoo. If you’re not game to adorn either your wall or your body, you can just try to drop the phrase into your mind throughout your day. 

Here’s how Kaira Jewel Lingo, a student of Thich Nhat Hanh, describes the utility of this mantra: “We know we only are ever seeing things from where we stand. There's always a 360 degree view of each thing, and we are only seeing it from one degree of that 360 degree.”

Kaira is on the pod today, along with dharma teachers Matthew Brensilver and Vinny Ferraro, talking about how to keep an open mind.

Listen to the full episode for much more.

My executive producer, DJ Cashmere, who reported this episode, is going to be in the subscriber chat today. Hit him up.   

Below, paid subscribers an episode cheatsheet, which includes key takeaways, time-stamped highlights, and a full transcript of today’s podcast. Subscribers can also comment on posts, participate in the chat, access live video AMAs, and more.