The concept of intellectual humility emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the possibility of being wrong and being open to considering alternative viewpoints. Often, those who question established experts are not skeptical of the new sources they turn to, failing to maintain a balanced approach. Engaging in rigorous debates and disagreements within established expertise communities is different from blindly accepting any contradictory idea without sufficient evidence. Blindly rejecting established expertise can lead to overlooking critical insights and expertise, as demonstrated by the UK home office case where officials falsely accused Sri Lankan refugees of inflicting scars on themselves for asylum purposes. This case highlights the danger of creating a scrutiny-free catch-all bucket for implausible theories when all other possibilities are disregarded, emphasizing the importance of intellectual humility and critical thinking in evaluating information.
Stories are such a powerful human invention that even the fictional ones can feel completely true. Dina Nayeri is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work highlights just how influential the stories we tell can be – and what is at risk when the truth isn’t valued. Dina speaks from her experience as a storyteller and former refugee about the importance of shaping a society that is thoughtful about language, history, culture, and truth. Then, she suggests frameworks anyone can use to think critically about what they think they know -- and questions why certain stories are more likely to be believed. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts