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The world has many “educated” and
“knowledgeable” people today. However, we do not find too many who are humble. We have too many people who are too sure of things. Switch
on a television set to watch news debates in the Indian Channels and you find
galore of these individuals there. There is a popular saying that attributes
‘humility’ as the mother of all virtues. But many do not seem to be aware or convinced
of this fact of life.
Humility is also often the consequence/fruit of the
acquisition of true knowledge. Observe the greatest of
intellectuals/Philosophers/Scientists etc., one would be surprised to find them
more humble than most common people. The humility of these great men does not
spring from ignorance, timidity or lack of knowledge but from the abundance of
knowledge. It is said, ‘The more you know, the more you realise that there is
to know.’ It’s possible that the humility of these great men spring from the awareness
of this Truth. Charles Darwin observed in ‘The
Descent of Man,’ “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does
knowledge.” In fact, the most ‘ignorant’ pretends to be most sure of things. Of
course, I do not intend to propagate scepticism here. But apparently the
humility of greatest of intellectuals arise from the realization of one’s own “ignorance”
leading to expression of opinions and ideas bordering on ‘Scepticism.’ It
wouldn’t be correct to equate this state of apparent “Unsurity” of things to ‘scepticism’
but rather to ‘Intellectual humility’ arising from the foretaste of wisdom.
The arrogance of the ignorant and
the unwise arise from their own ignorance. Most of them are unaware even of the
fact that they are ignorant. This is how ignorance begets confidence. On the
other hand, as elaborated above, true knowledge/wisdom appears to portray exactly
the opposite dynamism.
The success of a genuine
intellectual pursuit often lies in the attitude of humility with which one
approaches wisdom and true understanding. It’s not enough to acquire
information; what is even more important is the acquisition of wisdom. If one
has mere information or knowledge one tends to be arrogant and proud. However,
knowledge and information when coupled with wisdom gives rise to a TRUE
INTELLECTUAL.
The hallmark of a ‘True
Intellectual’ lies in the attitude of openness, ability to listen patiently
even to wrong opinions, the childlike quest for more wisdom and above all humility.
Strive to be a
true Intellectual!
Nobin Narzary
