In our shared writing and thinking space, when I use the word "humility", I mean something more specific and intense — what I call radical humility.
> Note: see Words in Context.
It's a posture of openness, curiosity, and deep respect for what we don't know, especially in dialogue with others. It's about resisting certainty and choosing to listen, empathise, and explore — even if it's uncomfortable.
This kind of humility is both gentle and bold: it's humble enough to admit ignorance and radical enough to challenge norms, to question boldly without dominating.
Radical humility involves practices like Steel-manning and emotional empathy — making the best version of someone else's argument or feeling — and often requires us to be wrong, to learn, and to disrupt our own assumptions.
It’s uncomfortable, demanding, and iterative. But it's also necessary in this space, where we value the kind of understanding that comes from truly listening and engaging with difference.