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A final, more pleasurable step you can take to increase your intellectual humility comes in the form of deliberately invoking in oneself the emotion of awe. Several studies have shown that awe quietens the ego and prompts epistemological openness – that is, a greater willingness to look at things differently and to recognise the gaps in one’s knowledge.If you cannot remember the last time you experienced awe, I highly recommend seeking it out. It may be important for fostering intellectual humility, but it seems just as important for fostering a better outlook/framing on life in general and brings with it a sense of wellbeing.
After burning out and starting a sabbatical last year, I went on a road trip that provided many moments of awe: a snowy mountain sunrise in the Rockies, the Milky Way in one of the darkest spots in Utah, long hikes through the redwoods, etc.
What struck me was that I had forgotten what these feelings felt like, and that I hadn’t felt them since I was a kid.
Glimpsing them reminded me how important they are, and I’m convinced that sustainability in future work endeavors (and life in general) involves an appropriate dose of awe and wonder on an ongoing basis.
Road trips into the desert aren’t necessary to experience this either (for me anyway) - just a very effective way to guarantee the experience (again, for me). But I can find it by pondering the bigger questions about life and the sheer improbability of our existence. Dedicating some regular time to this kind of reflection has been beneficial.
And I do find that I’m more open to possibilities. But that seems like just one of the outcomes from the “nourishment” of these experiences.
If you cannot remember the last time you experienced awe, I highly recommend seeking it out. It may be important for fostering intellectual humility, but it seems just as important for fostering a better outlook/framing on life in general and brings with it a sense of wellbeing.
After burning out and starting a sabbatical last year, I went on a road trip that provided many moments of awe: a snowy mountain sunrise in the Rockies, the Milky Way in one of the darkest spots in Utah, long hikes through the redwoods, etc.
What struck me was that I had forgotten what these feelings felt like, and that I hadn’t felt them since I was a kid.
Glimpsing them reminded me how important they are, and I’m convinced that sustainability in future work endeavors (and life in general) involves an appropriate dose of awe and wonder on an ongoing basis.
Road trips into the desert aren’t necessary to experience this either (for me anyway) - just a very effective way to guarantee the experience (again, for me). But I can find it by pondering the bigger questions about life and the sheer improbability of our existence. Dedicating some regular time to this kind of reflection has been beneficial.
And I do find that I’m more open to possibilities. But that seems like just one of the outcomes from the “nourishment” of these experiences.