On the Uses of Not Knowing
Epistemic humility as a working method, not a posture
Jul 4, 2026 · 2 min read
Abstract
Confessions of uncertainty have become a rhetorical fashion, deployed to preempt criticism rather than to change conduct. This essay distinguishes performed humility from operational humility, the kind that alters what you do next, and argues that the second is a learnable practice with concrete components: calibration, reversibility, and the deliberate cultivation of good error.
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