Kelly Corrigan on why humility fuels curiosity — and how to cultivate these qualities in an age of certainty.
By KELLY CORRIGAN AND LEE HELLAND
January, 29, 2026
Champion curiosity, and you risk sounding like a kindergarten teacher or a journalism professor. We treat it as a trait for the young and unformed — something adults either already mastered or no longer require. After all, if experience is supposed to deliver answers, what’s left to be curious about?
Today’s culture rewards certainty, and many experts see that as a problem. They argue that admitting what we don’t know is one of the surest catalysts for learning, creativity, and real connection.
Kelly Corrigan — bestselling author, PBS host, and creator of the Kelly Corrigan Wonders podcast — has spent the past year probing this idea with people she calls “intellectual giants.” Her new six-part podcast series, Super Traits, distills the qualities she believes anchor a fulfilled and grounded life: curiosity, humility, and creativity.
In this Q&A, Corrigan explains why these traits matter more than ever — and how practicing them could lead to a more contented, meaningful life.
@JoJo - yes, there are things we do not know. for example, about 90-99% of reality. What we think we know is like the part of the iceberg under the water. Or the vast majority of the electro-magnetic spectrum, the only part of which we can "see" is "visible" light, which is a very small part of all energy, (altho we can prove x-rays, gamma, infra-red, etc). We are so incredibly arrogant and insecure (which do go hand in hand) that we insist that we have the final answer. The other huge arrogance of our era is because of search engines and Google, that everyone knows or can find out the "truth", if only they would expend enough effort to do the research. I think that is a myth because you can spend years researching a topic and never get to a definitive final "Absolute" truth. There is always the fact that we have limited antennae, and limited inteliigence, and limited time. Our short-sightedness being one thing we are very reluctant to admit.
As soon as an "expert" says, I might be wrong, it erodes the status of expert, so it is a rare
expert that has the humility to say that. Good scientists generally always admit or say, "as far as we know" or even better, "We do not know that yet"....the greatest scientists are usually the ones with the greatest humility....unlike the current occupants of the WH.
As to curing this problem, that ain't going to happen. The internet enabled "armchair experts" and there isn't any way to stuff Pandora back in her box.
Rather than arguing with ill informed or uninformed people, I like to go to Perplexity.ai, pose the question the armchair expert is addressing, get a true expert summary collected from various sources (and please, space me the bull crap about rampant hallucinations) and then rub their face in the facts.
But this rarely fixes the problem because the armchair expert will be back tomorrow or next week posting the same erroneous misinformation simply because it is part and parcel of their core belief system.
Sans shock therapy or something equally drastic, few people are willing or even able to modify their core beliefs, even in the face of facts.
The problem is AI makes everyone an expert now and with social media, everyone comes off as an ultracredpredarian. It took me 2 mins to learn how to pronounce this word. I’m going to throw around this word at my Super Bowl party and act like an expert, jk.
One can't out "fact" armchair experts. While its exceptionally challenging and takes huge discipline, if you really want to try, I've found you need to let them explain their logic. It's part Socrates, part Illusion of Explanatory Depth and only hope that they have enough awareness to see how little they know if they have to explain it beyond the soundbite they've rehearsed. Having lived this for decades with certain family members, sometimes, like Socrates, its just performance for others to see the limits of the experts knowledge and there's no convincing them.
perhaps that falls under the category of, "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up" ? Admitting there are some things that are actually unknowable is the cure.
@Michael-bravo, Michael, it is ok not knowing. That falls under the category of 'cognitive dissonance': how much contradictory info or the unknown you can tolerate before it drives you off the deep end. Humans and writers try to find words and language to express thought and feelings precisely. Very few people are able to deal with things that do not make sense, or do not have a 'name'. That's one area that our mighty leader, commander-in-chief, has used to create chaos, chaff, dissonance, and delusion. (aka throwing a dead cat on the table).
on a more prosaic note, you may not be aware that my browser, Firefox, using "uBlock Origin" as an ad blocker, throws up a flag not to follow the link when I click on your email responses to go to your page/substack site. This is entirely the fault of the Substack software.
Also I wanted you to know when you 'like' my comment, I get an email notification...which is understood. Three likes = three emails.
I opted into getting notifications. But it does tend to clog up my emails. The tech or the software in this case breaks the OODA loop because it creates additional baggage we have to deal with. As an older guy who used to write letters in cursive to my college girlfriend and get back scented handwritten letters from her, I can only say, getting a scented handwritten letter from your girlfriend is vastly superior to getting an email.
There is that for sure! Yet let’s combine the two together. The armchair ‘expert’ who constantly throws the ultracredpredairans in our faces as ‘the experts’ while dismissing anyone, no matter how correct, who doesn’t have credentials. What comes to mind immediately are the shenanigans in Archeology and the lack of curiosity about our past and their armchair gatekeepers.
Now with genuine experts/gatekeepers we start to get into Clark's first law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." The conversation gets convoluted is when we have armchair and real experts who agree but for different reasons or with varied levels of certainty. As you discuss, Michael, it's the openness to new knowledge that is the real sign of intelligence. The camps become not the intelligent and the ignorant, but the open and the closed to learning and thinking.
I’ll need to remember Clark’s first law. It’s spot on and ironic isn’t it? What amazed me was Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions where he showed how Nobel Physisists went to their deathbed convinced Einsteinian Physics couldn’t work because their paradigm couldn’t explain it.
Exactly. Scientist or not, we all naturally tend toward the same issue of overconfidence in what we already know. That's the area that requires the most effort to remain curious and open.
@MIchael W - thank you again for a thoughtful discussion...obviously you touch a nerve.
I have to apologize for stepping all over your comments section today, but you have some very smart commenters, present company excluded. I would make one distinction that there are experts who know true things, like someone who has spent their entire lifetime being a plumber or electrician or a doctor, etc. Everyone is or has to be the expert in their own life; only you know what you think and feel, and what you choose as reality. And there are bright people and stupid people, honest people and deluded or malicious people, sane people and insane people.
On one level there are no experts, but on another level, we all choose to 'follow' those who seem to be sane, have the most substance, or are the most reasonable and human, and represent the
"truth" responsibly...like you, sir, and others who subscribe to the OODA model of John Boyd. I guess we suffer from an abundance of wisdom, but a paucity of agreement on how to get to that wisdom. Or in an Age of Lunacy, is the sane man elected president, or merely killed ?
Yes, This isn’t to denigrate an expert in their topic but to warn agains experts speaking as authorities outside of it. For instance, I wouldn’t weigh an expert plumber’s opinion on wiring over an expert electricians nor would I trust a plumber who tried to speak as an expert if they didn’t have the qualifications. That’s the major nuance here.
Thanks for introducing me to the word! As Newton is attributed with saying, “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
Loved this post but let’s be clear, it really does all come down to physics in the end lol
Haha. At least, that’s how it will end.
It is funny how physics (and gardening) metaphors seem to apply to most any topic of discussion.
I would hazard the belief that you do not know that.
Just stumbled on this similar article:
----
What Happens When We Admit We Don't Know?
Kelly Corrigan on why humility fuels curiosity — and how to cultivate these qualities in an age of certainty.
By KELLY CORRIGAN AND LEE HELLAND
January, 29, 2026
Champion curiosity, and you risk sounding like a kindergarten teacher or a journalism professor. We treat it as a trait for the young and unformed — something adults either already mastered or no longer require. After all, if experience is supposed to deliver answers, what’s left to be curious about?
Today’s culture rewards certainty, and many experts see that as a problem. They argue that admitting what we don’t know is one of the surest catalysts for learning, creativity, and real connection.
Kelly Corrigan — bestselling author, PBS host, and creator of the Kelly Corrigan Wonders podcast — has spent the past year probing this idea with people she calls “intellectual giants.” Her new six-part podcast series, Super Traits, distills the qualities she believes anchor a fulfilled and grounded life: curiosity, humility, and creativity.
In this Q&A, Corrigan explains why these traits matter more than ever — and how practicing them could lead to a more contented, meaningful life.
https://bigthink.com/the-well/what-happens-when-we-admit-we-dont-know/
@JoJo - yes, there are things we do not know. for example, about 90-99% of reality. What we think we know is like the part of the iceberg under the water. Or the vast majority of the electro-magnetic spectrum, the only part of which we can "see" is "visible" light, which is a very small part of all energy, (altho we can prove x-rays, gamma, infra-red, etc). We are so incredibly arrogant and insecure (which do go hand in hand) that we insist that we have the final answer. The other huge arrogance of our era is because of search engines and Google, that everyone knows or can find out the "truth", if only they would expend enough effort to do the research. I think that is a myth because you can spend years researching a topic and never get to a definitive final "Absolute" truth. There is always the fact that we have limited antennae, and limited inteliigence, and limited time. Our short-sightedness being one thing we are very reluctant to admit.
As soon as an "expert" says, I might be wrong, it erodes the status of expert, so it is a rare
expert that has the humility to say that. Good scientists generally always admit or say, "as far as we know" or even better, "We do not know that yet"....the greatest scientists are usually the ones with the greatest humility....unlike the current occupants of the WH.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I’m digging in.
Well, I learned a new word!
As to curing this problem, that ain't going to happen. The internet enabled "armchair experts" and there isn't any way to stuff Pandora back in her box.
Rather than arguing with ill informed or uninformed people, I like to go to Perplexity.ai, pose the question the armchair expert is addressing, get a true expert summary collected from various sources (and please, space me the bull crap about rampant hallucinations) and then rub their face in the facts.
But this rarely fixes the problem because the armchair expert will be back tomorrow or next week posting the same erroneous misinformation simply because it is part and parcel of their core belief system.
Sans shock therapy or something equally drastic, few people are willing or even able to modify their core beliefs, even in the face of facts.
The problem is AI makes everyone an expert now and with social media, everyone comes off as an ultracredpredarian. It took me 2 mins to learn how to pronounce this word. I’m going to throw around this word at my Super Bowl party and act like an expert, jk.
There is that. AI can be a great augmentor but if you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’ll show through in a heartbeat!
One can't out "fact" armchair experts. While its exceptionally challenging and takes huge discipline, if you really want to try, I've found you need to let them explain their logic. It's part Socrates, part Illusion of Explanatory Depth and only hope that they have enough awareness to see how little they know if they have to explain it beyond the soundbite they've rehearsed. Having lived this for decades with certain family members, sometimes, like Socrates, its just performance for others to see the limits of the experts knowledge and there's no convincing them.
perhaps that falls under the category of, "don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up" ? Admitting there are some things that are actually unknowable is the cure.
That’s a great point. It’s Ok not knowing.
@Michael-bravo, Michael, it is ok not knowing. That falls under the category of 'cognitive dissonance': how much contradictory info or the unknown you can tolerate before it drives you off the deep end. Humans and writers try to find words and language to express thought and feelings precisely. Very few people are able to deal with things that do not make sense, or do not have a 'name'. That's one area that our mighty leader, commander-in-chief, has used to create chaos, chaff, dissonance, and delusion. (aka throwing a dead cat on the table).
on a more prosaic note, you may not be aware that my browser, Firefox, using "uBlock Origin" as an ad blocker, throws up a flag not to follow the link when I click on your email responses to go to your page/substack site. This is entirely the fault of the Substack software.
Also I wanted you to know when you 'like' my comment, I get an email notification...which is understood. Three likes = three emails.
I opted into getting notifications. But it does tend to clog up my emails. The tech or the software in this case breaks the OODA loop because it creates additional baggage we have to deal with. As an older guy who used to write letters in cursive to my college girlfriend and get back scented handwritten letters from her, I can only say, getting a scented handwritten letter from your girlfriend is vastly superior to getting an email.
There is that for sure! Yet let’s combine the two together. The armchair ‘expert’ who constantly throws the ultracredpredairans in our faces as ‘the experts’ while dismissing anyone, no matter how correct, who doesn’t have credentials. What comes to mind immediately are the shenanigans in Archeology and the lack of curiosity about our past and their armchair gatekeepers.
Now with genuine experts/gatekeepers we start to get into Clark's first law: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." The conversation gets convoluted is when we have armchair and real experts who agree but for different reasons or with varied levels of certainty. As you discuss, Michael, it's the openness to new knowledge that is the real sign of intelligence. The camps become not the intelligent and the ignorant, but the open and the closed to learning and thinking.
I’ll need to remember Clark’s first law. It’s spot on and ironic isn’t it? What amazed me was Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions where he showed how Nobel Physisists went to their deathbed convinced Einsteinian Physics couldn’t work because their paradigm couldn’t explain it.
Exactly. Scientist or not, we all naturally tend toward the same issue of overconfidence in what we already know. That's the area that requires the most effort to remain curious and open.
@MIchael W - thank you again for a thoughtful discussion...obviously you touch a nerve.
I have to apologize for stepping all over your comments section today, but you have some very smart commenters, present company excluded. I would make one distinction that there are experts who know true things, like someone who has spent their entire lifetime being a plumber or electrician or a doctor, etc. Everyone is or has to be the expert in their own life; only you know what you think and feel, and what you choose as reality. And there are bright people and stupid people, honest people and deluded or malicious people, sane people and insane people.
On one level there are no experts, but on another level, we all choose to 'follow' those who seem to be sane, have the most substance, or are the most reasonable and human, and represent the
"truth" responsibly...like you, sir, and others who subscribe to the OODA model of John Boyd. I guess we suffer from an abundance of wisdom, but a paucity of agreement on how to get to that wisdom. Or in an Age of Lunacy, is the sane man elected president, or merely killed ?
Yes, This isn’t to denigrate an expert in their topic but to warn agains experts speaking as authorities outside of it. For instance, I wouldn’t weigh an expert plumber’s opinion on wiring over an expert electricians nor would I trust a plumber who tried to speak as an expert if they didn’t have the qualifications. That’s the major nuance here.
Thanks for reminding me of this Apelles story. I covered another story about him in my book, and this story makes a great companion to it as an article. https://ataraxiaorbust.substack.com/p/fame-credentials-expertise-and-the
Looking forward to it!
Thanks for the shout-out!
Thanks for introducing me to the word! As Newton is attributed with saying, “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
These self-proclaimed experts are a curse to humanity !!!
They know a lot about very little and believe that the entire universe humbly revolves around THEIR field of expertise ...
Best to avoid them entirely, they're highly dangerous !!!
Outside of their field, they're dumb as a dry turd, not even fit to be fermented or composted ...
Composting maybe. Fermenting… never!
everything gets composted eventually....some years back someone said,
"we all are going to learn more and more about less and less, until we know
everything about nothing". I wish I could say I thought of that....