My father recently shared a post referencing Krishnamurti, and the idea of a perpetually inward-looking humanity emerged for me. What would happen if we were—all of us, all the time—always fixated on the idea of truth? What is real? How do we know for sure? But first we need to understand why most people actively resist such inquiry.
We scroll through infinite feeds, each swipe an unconscious gesture of seeking. Yet these tools deliver answers rather than deepen questions. Why?
Here's where we confuse three entirely separate dimensions. Intellectual honesty: being truthful about what you actually think. Intellectual humility: acknowledging limitations in your knowledge. Questioning appetite: having curiosity about exploring ideas further. These have nothing to do with each other.
Someone can be intellectually honest whilst having zero intellectual humility: "I'm completely certain about X and have no interest in questioning it further." Conversely, endless questioning can mask intellectual dishonesty—inquiry as performance whilst hiding actual beliefs.
Being questioned and asking questions are entirely different activities. Being questioned feels like judgment. Asking questions might be genuine curiosity, intellectual posturing, or strategic manoeuvring. Most systems conflate these distinctions.
Ironically, useful questioning tools often emerge from people who aren't forever-seekers themselves. Engineers optimising for engagement accidentally create spaces for inquiry. Academics pursuing requirements stumble upon methods that cultivate curiosity. These creators are intellectually honest about their non-philosophical motivations.
We live in a civilisation that rewards confident assertions over honest uncertainty. Some people are genuinely intellectually honest about preferring certainty—and that honesty might be more valuable than forced curiosity.
The most radical possibility isn't cultivating questioning behaviour, but creating environments where people can be honest about their relationship with uncertainty.
If that day comes when humanity becomes perpetually inward-looking, it will indeed be the best thing that could happen to us. We should all honestly keep assessing if what is being offered to us today in the form of AI will take us to that day. But the real question isn't whether we can build better tools—it's whether we can create spaces for intellectual honesty about our varied appetites for questioning.
What distinguishes genuine intellectual honesty from questioning performance? How might we honour both authentic curiosity and authentic satisfaction?