I think you understand the concept that I was trying to convey, and are trying to say that 'humble' and 'humility' are the wrong labels for that concept. Right? I basically agree with the OED's definition of humility: “The quality of being humble or having a lowly opinion of oneself; meekness, lowliness, humbleness: the opposite of pride or haughtiness.” Note the use of the word opposite, not absence.
Besides, shouldn´t a person who believe himself unworthy tend to accept ideas that contradict his own original beliefs more easy? E.g. Oh, Dr. Kopernikues claims that the earth ISN`T flat? Well, who am I to come and believe otherwise?
That's exactly the problem, at best one ends up following whoever is loudest, at worst one ends up saying "everybody is right" and "but we can't really know" and not even pretending to try to figure out the truth.
The Oxford Dictionary defines humility as to be humble OR having a lowly opinion of oneself. Well, if one is meeky, that could be a problem. I agree. My theory is that if you are modest, you have superior advantage in critical thinking compared to an arrogant person :)
Let us say that an arrogant scientist and a modest scientist is doing research. A modest person will be more open to hypotheses that seems unlikely. If evidence later is updated, I think that a humble scientist will have an easier time cooping with it and maintain his critical thinking while an arrogant person will be more likely to try to find evidence supporting his own claims.
I have this belief that humility is a part of good critical thinking, and that egoism undermines it. I imagine arrogance as a kind of mind-death. But I have no evidence, and no good mechanism by which it might be true. In fact, I know the belief is suspect because I know that I want it to be true — I want to be able to assure myself that this or that intolerable academic will be magically punished with a decreased capacity to do good work. The truth could be the opposite: maybe hubris breeds confidence, and confidence results? After all, some of the most important thinkers in history were insufferable.
Is any link, positive or negative, between arrogance and reasoning too tenuous to be worth entertaining? Is humility a pretty word or a valuable habit? I don't know what I think yet. Do you?