“I have had this experience several times in my life; I come across clear enough evidence that settles for me an issue I had seen long disputed. ”
What if you made an error in judgement at that point, not having access to all the relevant facts, and the particular matter under dispute is of great importance to discovering the truth about reality?
Isn’t that “settles for me” exactly what we see happening when people are unwilling to look at facts that might challenge their current mental models? Couldn’t this lead to a cul-de-sac?
The sort of humility required can inculcated by an openminded and continuous study of the human propensity to develop systems of thought that are often sealed from the admission of evidence which might contradict them.
cf.:
http://amethodnotaposition.blogspot.com/2005/10/how-to-become-crackpot.html
and:
http://michaelprescott.typepad.com/michael_prescotts_blog/2006/12/hypnotized_by_s.html
My own personal view is that this needed form of humility is even more lacking in self-proclaimed rationalists than the population at large, probably for selection reasons.
I discuss some very interesting fMRI research bearing on this question here:
http://amethodnotaposition.blogspot.com/2006/10/confirmation-bias.html
To avoid this gaping pitfall to progress in our search for what is real, we ought consider deeply these words of Oliver Cromwell:
“I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken”