How to cultivate collective intellectual humility
In 1860, Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills set out from Melbourne on an ill-fated group expedition to traverse Australia from south to north. On the final leg of their journey to the northern coastline, the were accompanied by two other colonial explorers from Melbourne and a group of Aboriginal guides. While they technically accomplished their goal, reaching the mangroves of the Gulfof Carpentaria in 1861, they died during the return journey, having made multiple catastrophic decisions involving both navigation and nutrition. Return to Cooper’s Creek ( c 1860-61) by Samuel Thomas Gill. Courtesy the State Library of NSW Burke and Wills were highly educated. Born in Ireland, Burke undertook military training in England and Belgium, and served as a lieutenant in the Austrian army. Wills received an education in surgery and chemistry in England, and later studied surveying in Australia. How did these men fail so badly at something their guides and their guides’ ancestors had...
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