D037

Epistemic Humility

BD03 Decision, Judgment & Epistemics
Derived LayerMML-2

Version v1.2.4

Definition

The capacity to hold “I may be wrong” without defensiveness, while maintaining independent judgment and standards of evidence.

Poles

Each HES element is a spectrum, not a category: the Low and High poles describe how it presents at its two extremes, while the Reference marks the typical, everyday middle. The poles map variation across the range — neither end is inherently better or worse.

Low Pole

Defensive certainty: treats disagreement as threat; rarely admits error; updates under pressure only.

High Pole

Stable non-defensiveness: comfortable with correction, distinguishes confidence from identity, revises cleanly.

Reference

Humble in abstract topics, but defensive in identity-linked or reputational domains.

Measure

Update rate: willingness to revise after credible counterevidence.
• Stability: emotional steadiness during correction.

Measuring Methods

Structured disagreement protocols; post-debate revision tracking; peer ratings of defensiveness vs openness.

Empirical Anchor

Epistemic humility / intellectual humility (Leary et al., 2017); calibration; knowing what you don’t know.

Notes

Not self-doubt. Epistemic humility supports stronger thinking by allowing clean updates.

Citation

APA

Human Elements System. (2026). Epistemic Humility (HES Passport D037, v1.2.4). hestable.com. https://hestable.com/passport/D037

BibTeX

@misc{hes_D037, author = {{Human Elements System}}, title = {{Epistemic Humility}}, year = {2026}, note = {HES Passport D037, v1.2.4}, howpublished = {\url{https://hestable.com/passport/D037}} }