Dying on the hill of your own ignorance is a hell of a way to go.
It’s fine to not know anything. It’s even fine to think you know something, and be wrong. But for the love of all that is holy, don’t fight tooth and nail for a vague guess with no background.
If you get good at one application of self-awareness, let it be this: Learn to recognize when you have made a vague guess with nothing backing it up. Let it crumble into gentle curiosity at the very first piece of real evidence that you’re wrong. You don’t have to automatically adopt the opposite position – the problem is that you’re adopting any position with no actual knowledge.
Just… just be okay saying, “huh, neat, tell me more” and stop being a huge jerk.
The Opportunity Machine 