Intellectual Courage

The other day the Apple Maps app gave me directions that seemed obviously inefficient based on what I could see in front of me.

It instructed me to take a convoluted sequence of turns when I could clearly just continue going straight.

Nevertheless, I followed the app’s directions thinking that surely the app and all the data and algorithms backing it recognize something that I do not.

In hindsight, this was a silly decision and I still believe with reasonably high confidence that I would’ve made it to my destination faster if I had just followed my instincts and gone straight.

What occurred here is a kind of intellectual conformity that is easy to fall into if we’re not careful.

I’d given so much credit to the app and all the data powering it that I decided to follow its instructions even when they seemed obviously wrong.

In the 50s Polish-American psychologist, Solomon Asch, discovered a similar phenomenon in a series of experiments that found that if a majority of people hold a different opinion, individuals are likely to switch over to the majority view even when it seemed obviously incorrect.

Having a minority opinion can be uncomfortable, but it does not necessarily mean you are wrong.

Intellectual conformity is deciding that your minority perspective is probably wrong without giving it a chance.

Intellectual courage and honesty involve leaning into what seems clear to you even when it’s not a popularly held view, yet remaining open to changing your mind in light of new observations. It’s often socially uncomfortable and difficult to do.

Which position do you think enables more progress?