Why intellectual humility pays

People of a certain vintage would have observed no doubt one major difference between the time they came of age and now — the obsession with looking good that leads many young men and women to make a beeline for gyms and beauty parlours. There’s nothing wrong with this, except that if some of their time and resources were to be also devoted to burnishing the mind, the benefits over a lifetime would perhaps be far greater.  

We humans have a well-documented tendency to overestimate our prowess at different activities. We regard ourselves to be better at driving, cooking, swimming and a host of other skills than we actually are. This overestimation is especially stark in the case of thinking, where the consequences of lack of skill can be disastrous, though this is not apparent immediately. 

The good news is that a lot of research now exists that can help one become a better thinker. Edward de Bono’s books are a good place to begin with. According to him, most errors in thinking are the result of errors of perception. He offers extremely simple tools like CORT thinking technique and six thinking hats that allow one to examine an issue from several angles. His TO-LO-PO-SO-GO framework can be useful to anyone trying to make a decision in a structured manner.

In the book under review, author David Robson asserts that intelligence cannot be equated with good thinking skills. A highly intelligent person is like a car equipped with a powerful engine. But whether that car will reach its destination or veer off a cliff depends on the driver’s skills. Therefore intelligence, he emphasises, needs to be deployed with care. 

Furthermore, intelligence alone may not to be adequate for being successful. IQ (intelligence quotient) testing gained a lot of popularity in the twentieth century as a tool for selecting future leaders. A researcher named Lewis Terman administered this test to a large number of American children and then followed their lives across decades to see how they — especially the ones with stratospheric scores of 190 and above — fared. Although those with high IQ scores did on an average do better than those with poor scores, many of the top rankers did not fare as well as expected. 

To explain this, one can draw an analogy with basketball, where a player needs to have a basic minimum height to be competitive. But thereafter other factors become important for determining success. According to the author, while IQ tests may be able to evaluate the kind of intelligence that enables students to do well at academics, success in life depends on a person possessing a host of other forms of intelligence, such as creative, practical and execution intelligence. 

The book’s second chapter makes the point that people possessing the highest level of intelligence often espouse completely irrational views. Mr Robson refers to this as “dysrationalia”. Arthur Canon Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, the character that epitomises intelligence and logical reasoning, believed in seances and after-life. Thomas Edison, who had more than a thousand patents to his name, fought an utterly pigheaded and long-drawn battle with a rival in favour of the direct current, long after it had become apparent that alternating current was the superior technology. Einstein wasted the last 25 years of his life developing a unified theory of the universe that failed to stand up to scrutiny, when he could have devoted his fertile mind to more productive pursuits. More recently, Steve Jobs may perhaps have lived had he stuck to doctors’ counsel, instead of trying to cure his cancer through herbal remedies, spiritual healing and fruit juice-based diet. 

One reason for an inordinate level of irrationality among the intelligent is that people adopt beliefs and positions that are emotionally comforting to them. Then, instead of examining their validity dispassionately, they use their high intelligence to garner evidence in support of their viewpoint, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. 

How can one overcome this pitfall? One way is to cultivate intellectual humility. Avoid being rigid and dogmatic. Be open to other peoples’ views, and if required, change your position in the light of new evidence. 

Benjamin Franklin’s method called the “moral algebra” can also help. When Franklin had a crucial decision to make, he would write down the points in favour and against on a piece of paper. He would then assign weights to each of these points, and finally make a decision based on which side carried more cumulative weight. This exercise was conducted deliberately over a couple of days. 

Many of the other chapters in this book, such as the ones on how to deal with fake news, get better at learning new skills, and prevent hierarchy and ego from thwarting good decision-making in a corporate setup are insightful. Anyone keen to become a more evolved thinker will profit from reading this deeply-researched book. 
 

The intelligence trap: Why smart people Do stupid things and how to make wiser decisions

David Robson

Hodder & Stoughton; 337 pages; Rs 322