Be dangerous so you can have a soft heart. This is the phrase that Clint Markland said to me a few weeks ago. His argument is that having a soft heart doesn’t matter much if that is your only option. There’s not much value in a soft heart if you have no choice but to have a soft heart. There is enormous value in having a soft heart if you are dangerous. Because then you are choosing to have a soft heart. Kidd (2015) would call this “intellectual conduct. By that term, I refer to the fairly stable and habitual ways that a person conducts their intellectual activities—how they articulate their claims, form beliefs, react to claims, and so on. It has affective, bodily, and cognitive aspects, and so captures not just a person’s psychology, but also their posture, tone of voice, facial expression, and social comportment.”

Being humble isn't about self-deprecation; it's about having a balanced view of oneself. This aligns with the perspective offered in "Beware of Pride," where it's stated that humility stems from understanding our divine heritage as children of God (Benson, 1989). It's about having a "righteous self-esteem," which is neither inflated nor deflated but is grounded in a deeper understanding of who we are and what we stand for.

Now, how do we reconcile these virtues with self-confidence, especially in an academic setting? The paper "Too much of a good thing: Differentiating intellectual humility from servility in higher education" provides a clue (McElroy-Hertzel, et al. 2022). It suggests that intellectual humility and self-confidence are not mutually exclusive but can coexist. In fact, having a "righteous self-esteem" can fuel our intellectual pursuits. When students are confident in their abilities and values, they are more likely to engage in constructive dialogues, take risks in their learning, and be open to diverse perspectives (McElroy-Hertzel et al., 2022).

So, can we foster intellectual humility while also teaching students to be confident? Absolutely. The key lies in creating an educational environment where questions are encouraged, where it's okay to own your own limitations, and where students are taught to value themselves not for the grades they get but for their willingness to engage, learn, and grow. This is not about sacrificing our beliefs or confidence on the "altar of academia," but about enriching them through continuous learning and self-reflection.

To sum it up, when we are powerful, and we know it, we can use that power to be appropriately humble.