Amalya Sukiasyan Intellectual humility is not a simple trait to cultivate—especially when we consider how the human brain functions. In academia, status, titles, and hierarchical position often become deeply tied to an individual's sense of self-worth—and in some cases, even to their identity.

What I’ve observed is that some individuals with advanced academic credentials—PhDs and professors included—can exhibit a surprising lack of self-regulation when their ideas are challenged. This often relates to the brain’s limbic system, particularly the amygdala, which is one of the brain’s most ancient structures responsible for detecting threats and initiating emotional responses.

When an academic perceives a student’s opposing viewpoint as a threat—especially to their intellectual authority—the amygdala can override the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which governs logic, impulse control, and working memory. In such cases, reasoned discourse is replaced by defensive reactions, making genuine intellectual humility difficult, if not impossible.

This pattern reminds us that even highly educated individuals are not exempt from the neurological constraints of human emotion and identity. True intellectual humility requires conscious effort to engage the PFC over the amygdala—especially in moments of perceived challenge.

Jairo Diaz, thank you for sharing your insights. It's true that intellectual humility is not compatible with anyone's values, intentions, and cognitive abilities. Although the human brain has a complex structure, its work depends not only on neurological processes, but also on one's intellectual choices, ethical perceptions, and socio-cultural understandings.

The Armenian great linguist Hrachia Acharian, who made groundbreaking contributions to linguistics through decades of in-depth research and etymological studies, once had an interesting incident with his students. They asked Acharian about the etymology of a word that seemed unfamiliar to him. Despite his rich knowledge and immense experience, he replied, “I am not familiar with that word. I’ll check it and will tell you its etymology later.”

Eventually, it turned out the students were testing him, asking about a self-invented, "artificial word." What the great linguist showed was a clear example of intellectual humility. It's rare, but it exists.