Deliberative humility can be conceived as a “mean between extremes,” which implies a continuum. At one end, we’ve seen what we might call deliberative arrogance, but what’s at the other end of the continuum? We don’t really have an adequate word for it, so I’m co-opting the word timidity — though diffidence usefully captures another aspect of this state.

Timidity is often contrasted with the excellence of courage, and diffidence refers to a kind of shyness that results from lack of self-confidence. In a way, then we could characterize the continuum of humility as running from over-confidence to under-confidence. Moreover, we could look at the continuum at two levels: confidence in one’s beliefs and confidence in one’s ways of forming beliefs. Both levels are important in cultivating the excellences of mind.

We’ve seen that over-confidence in a particular belief can result from various motivations. One might prioritize comfort or self-interest above grounded belief, for instance. Or one may double down on a belief out of anxiety about whether the belief actually is grounded, which is a sort of epistemic defensiveness. We can see a variety of motivations for under-confidence as well. In my philosophical practice, I’ve encountered people who avoided “belief confidence” out of a fear of rejection by others, for instance, or fear of the social consequences of being wrong.

We might be tempted to write off such motivations as “nonrational” — and many philosophers are zealous advising us to do just that — but ignoring such motivations actually reduces our ability to deliberate effectively. Think of it like this: If you want to fly a kite, you have to pay attention to the kite’s design and construction. But if you want success on some particular attempt to fly a kite, you also have to pay attention to conditions that affect the flight — like the wind and weather on a particular afternoon.

This is the point of thinking about ourselves as rational animals: We are more effective at achieving excellence when we take account of our animal nature, and “nonrational“ motivations are a part of who and what we are as animals. “Taking account” means, among other things, acknowledging our motivations so we can compensate for them when they aren’t conducive to excellence. Reflection on kite-flying teaches us that we have to work within the conditions under which we attempt an activity, if we want success, and our animal nature is one of those conditions.

Deliberative humility involves developing an appropriate degree of confidence in the human exercise of believing, both with regard to the beliefs we hold and to the skills involved in belief formation. And that brings us to the second level: skills. The pursuit of excellence requires us to learn and practice the underlying skills that make excellence in an activity possible.

Deliberative timidity is sometimes motivated by a lack of necessary skills. We don’t blame a person for not wanting to play the bassoon in front of us because they are beginners; but we might legitimately question whether the person who remains a beginner is really committed to playing the bassoon! The difference, unfortunately, is that we may not realize that deliberation also requires learning particular skills, not to mention practicing them.

Timidity sometimes results from unwillingness to acknowledge the role of deliberative skills or practice. The pursuit of excellence in any activity worth doing requires at least some commitment of time and energy in developing the required skills. So we could also point to motives like abdication of responsibility for belief formation as leading to deliberative timidity.

So how do these observations help us develop deliberative humility in daily life? It’s not easy, but reflecting on our own moments of “belief timidity” in light of these observations can point us in the right direction. Take a moment and ask yourself: When are you timid about your beliefs? What motivates you in such moments — I mean, what really motivates you? Are you concerned about how you’ll look if you’re mistaken? Do you feel inadequate? Do you lack the skills you need for the task of forming belief? Or perhaps you don’t think any such skills can be learned? Or that they are needed?

As you go about your believing this week, take note of moments of timidity and look a little deeper. Some of the people I’ve worked with have found it useful to keep a “decision journal,” in which they can jot down decisions and the motivations that lie behind them. Keeping a decision journal for a period of time can provide you just the distance you need to see patterns in your habits of believing.

Choose an approach that helps you reflect on your own process of belief formation as well as your beliefs. But remind yourself as often as needed that, when you have nonrational motivations, you aren’t alone! There’s a whole species of fellow rational animals that have the same challenges. Learning more about your own skills and motivations can suggest a way forward toward excellence.