Humility
This series of posts are influenced by David Fleming’s Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive it. Currently I am taking a course offered by Sterling College, Surviving the Future. The course is facilitated by Shaun Chamberlain, the Editor of Lean Logic, and founder of Dark Optimism.
This series will be exploring different concepts from Lean Logic, which you can explore for free online, here. My intention for writing these posts is twofold: 1) to spread David’s ideas and 2) to personalize, and make greater sense of them.
Some Key Points
Fleming describes humility as a virtue and that “Its absence closes the mind, leaving the victim defended from inconvenient truth. Its presence suggests a willingness to consider a contrary view, to defer to the unexpected, to encounter distinctiveness and difference.”
Although humility is a virtue Fleming describes that it can also be greedy in that it has the potential to offset its complementary characteristic, fortitude. He later defines fortitude as “ identity’s defence”, with identity being “foundation for rationality — for sense.”
He then goes on to explain that fortitude is dependent on the context, the culture, as a means for developing an identity for it to uphold. The culture, which makes the place special, and unique. He goes on to exert that, “If there is no local story, the space can be filled by humility’s refusal to do anything or believe anything without reasons kitted-out and made impressive with abstractions.”
He continues to condemn humility in his observation that “one of the strengths of authoritarian regimes is their ability to recruit the humble.” And he gave the reason for this being that, “They need people who will accept decisions without causing difficulties, and then carry out missions without taking it upon themselves to be moved by reason, common sense, or pity. They need supporters who will defer to the language.”
Fleming closes the passage in support of humility, asserting that “humility can mean the recognition that there are qualities in the other, in the person or practice or thing, which you have not yet understood, and which may be too complex, too deep or too unseen for you (at the moment at least) to understand.” He expounds that to have humility is to know how to listen, and be aware of one’s limits.
You can read the full excerpt on Humility, the Fallacy of, here.
Reflections
After reading this passage I was complexed by Fleming’s prose, weaving in and out, seemingly arguing with himself, with stories and quotes. I found myself playing devil’s advocate at times, only to continue reading and find David seconding my intuition. I imagine if I read this again, in ten years, my understanding would be more complete and thorough. The text feels dynamic, and alive, and rooted.
Coincidentally, by invitation of my father, this week I also started reading another book The Mussar Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life, written by Rabi Harry Block. After opening the book and reading the preface and the introduction I was startled to find that the first chapter was on Avanah — Humility. I was excited! Right after reading David Fleming’s very interesting, and rather convoluted, passage on Humility, I now had a backdrop to integrate, and think more critically about his ideas.
For me, Fleming was unique in that he explicitly presented both sides of the same coin — humility and fortitude. Rabbi Block gave negative examples for when humility was not present (i.e. Cain killing Abel), and breifly described the shadow of humility; depression, but mostly alluded to the ostensibly positive side of the concept. Perhaps this is what Fleming means by describing the Fallacy of Humility? The fact that humility, like most things, is not inherently positive?
Being new to reading David Fleming I am impressed with his ability to present a topic with so many different angles. It feels almost similar to Jung and his archetypes. At times, Fleming confuses me with his writing. It almost feels like he is creating binaries, internal battles within concepts. Or, perhaps that is simply the way I am perceiving it, because that is what my perception is also rift with? However, upon reflection my feeling is that humility and fortitude are one in the same, they are meant to co-exist. The same way each one of us incredibly unique (think of the fingerprints on our thumbs), I also believe that we are all inherently interconnected. We are unique, and one, at the same time.
Just as humility is presented as a virtue, defined as enabling diversity and multiculturalism, fortitude is a virtue, in upholding each individual, unique, culture. Essentially, fortitude depends on humility, and humility depends on fortitude. The old Taoist conundrum.
This past weekend, on a Zoom Contemplative Activism call, one of the members of the Sangha, shared a story. She shared how she confronted one of her neighbors that was cutting down the trees on his property. She described the altercation, how she told him straight to his face that he was ruining the natural ecosystem, and he responded defensively, holding his ground, and protecting his stance. To me, the woman that spoke up, represented fortitude. Had she not spoken up, and simply let the guy cut down the trees as that is simply his worldview, that would have been her exercising humility.
This example is rather ironic, as the ego, and identity, that is required for fortitude, was used in defense of the non-human living ecosystems, which in itself is inherently humbling. This reflection led me to consider that perhaps the only way for humility to transcend fortitude, is when an individual sees Earth (or beyond) as their home, as opposed to the arbitrary space that their house is in. In other words, if everyone held the worldview that the Earth was their home, and all of the living and non-living things in it, their family, there would be no need for humility and fortitude.
However, this is far from reality. Therefore, humility and fortitude will likely remain.
One area that Rabbi Block emphasized, that David did not explicitly consider, is the intrapersonal side of humility. All of David’s example were rooted in the interpersonal. Rabbi Block describes that taking time for a rest on the Sabbath is really a space for cultivating humility. In a sense it is an invitation of quieting the ego, and inviting space for the eco, the deeper connection to the surrounding world.
“Gandhiji observed silence on every Monday. He won’t talk to anybody on that day. He would not break this rule for any reason. He would write down if there were a need but won’t speak at all [1].” He did this while playing a formidable role in taking down the British Empire. Now, this is humility as fortitude! Block even alludes to the creation myth in Lurianic Kaballah, “The Shattering of the Vessels”, and describes that in this creation story, God pulling inward enabled space of creation to happen. By giving space everything came to be.
Regardless of beliefs, this can be interesting to consider. Both Block and Fleming expressed humility’s ability to create space in interpersonal dialogues, for enabling diversity, and multiculturalism. Fleming described this as “a willingness to consider a contrary view, to defer to the unexpected, to encounter distinctiveness and difference.” Block, through quoting Alan Morinis, “Being humble doesn’t mean being nobody; it just means being no more of a somebody than you out to be.” This is similar to Fleming’s assertion that humility enables one to listen and create limits.
Perhaps at the core of this reflection is self-awareness? Know Thyself. When one is genuinely self-aware, one is naturally balanced, and able to embody both humility and fortitude based on the circumstance therefore merging the binary, and creating a dynamic spectrum between the two. Another trait that I feel could be useful for traversing this spectrum is gentleness, especially when one is in the process of developing identity (see Illich, To Hell with Good Intentions).
I close this passage with humility, acknowledging that my understanding is limited and that I am myself a work in progress. Hopefully this humility creates space for other people to share their thoughts and ideas about this reflection, and these concepts.
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About the author:
Daniel Rudolph is interested in exploring alternative, experiential learning opportunities for people of all ages. He is passionate about forming community, building public spaces for meaningful, transformational gathering, and Re-Imagining Our Future. Currently he is spending a lot of his time learning juggling and facilitating gatherings. He also enjoys writing and sharing poetry.
Dan, and a small team, are in the process of publishing a series of articles titled ‘Live Human Signposts’ that showcases individuals that have taken alternative paths to higher education and/or are pursuing regenerative livelihoods, which is being commissioned by the Ecoversities Alliance. In March, Dan will begin an apprenticeship in Vermont at the MAPLE Monastic Academy.
