Humility

Humility

Why is humility essential to justice?

There are three words that many people find almost impossible to say:

"I was wrong."

Yet those three words may be the foundation of every just society.

Why is it so hard to admit our mistakes?

What is it in human nature that holds us back?

We fear admitting we were wrong because we think it diminishes us.

Yet the opposite is usually true.

People rarely lose respect for someone who admits an honest mistake.

They lose respect for those who refuse to admit one after the truth becomes clear.

Is it our pride “we pride ourselves on always being right.” And to admit we are less than what we try to portray destroys our reputation.

It also has financial and career consequences.

We may have reached the pinnacle of our careers because our words and actions are trusted. Admitting we were wrong can feel as though it jeopardises that trust.

Or is there a more basic reason, not what others will think of us, but what will we think of ourselves?

We have seen in previous issues what denial leads to:

• Tunnel Vision survives.

• Confirmation Bias grows.

• Authority becomes arrogance.

• Wisdom is ignored.

As I have mentioned before, two men who admitted they had made mistakes in their lives’ and wanted to put thing right. Against a Police Commissioner who, after admitting in a secret inquiry, that they had broken the law, stated publicly they had nothing to apologies for.

Humility begins with recognising that no one has a monopoly on truth.

My father taught me to treat every person as an equal, perhaps even a little better than myself. That lesson has stayed with me throughout my life.

How others can teach you.

We often avoid people who disagree with us because they make us uncomfortable.

Yet those people may be our greatest teachers.

Friends usually confirm what we already believe.

Honest opponents force us to examine why we believe it.

From that we have three options:

We can consider their reason and accept them because their facts are more compelling.

We can consider their reasons and reject them because our facts are more compelling.

Or, modify our reasons to include these new facts.

Without humility, lasting reform is impossible.

Where do we start to change a systemic illness in society?

If humility is learned, where does that learning begin?

Surely it begins in the home.

Schools can reinforce it.

Employers can encourage it.

Public institutions can model it.

In that way, humility becomes part of a society's culture rather than merely an individual virtue.

The greater our authority, the greater our responsibility to remain humble.

Every miscarriage of justice begins with the possibility that someone may have been wrong.

Every correction begins when someone has the humility to admit it.

Humility is not weakness.

It is the courage to place truth above pride.

"...always accept others as being equal in all things, and maybe a little bit better."