Wall of Barriers Activities: Develop Intellectual Integrity
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Develop Intellectual Integrity
Intellectual integrity entails recognizing the need to be true to your own thinking, to be consistent in the intellectual standards one applies, to hold oneself to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one’s antagonists, to practice what one advocates for others, and to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in your own thought and action.

Intellectual integrity develops best in a supportive atmosphere in which people feel secure and free enough to honestly acknowledge their inconsistencies, and can develop and share realistic ways of dealing with them. It requires honest acknowledgment of the difficulties of achieving greater consistency in one’s thoughts and actions. The opposite of intellectual integrity is intellectual hypocrisy.
Activity:
When Have You Been Hypocritical?
Think of a time recently in which you failed to behave in accordance with some reasonable standards you have set for yourself.
Complete these statements:
1. The situation was as follows...
2. The standard I have set for myself is (for instance, being honest with someone you love)...
3. I violated this standard in the following ways...
4. Some implications of this hypocrisy in my life are...



Activity:
When Have You Been Inconsistent Or Contradicted Yourself?
Write about a dimension of your life that you suspect holds some inconsistencies or contradictions (where you probably are not holding yourself to the same standard to which you hold those whom you dislike or disagree with).
Complete these statements:
1. This was a situation where my behavior contradicts what I say I believe... (This might be in your relationship with an employee, or a spouse, for example.}
2. These inconsistencies may have been present in my behavior...
3. I need to do the following to avoid these inconsistencies in the future...



Activity:
Imagine a World Where People Embody Intellectual Integrity
Consider a future world in which persons and organizations routinely perform rigorous self-analysis and are happy to acknowledge their inconsistencies in order to grow and develop as rational persons.
Answer the questions:
1. I would envision a world filled with intellectual integrity as follows...
2. Such a world would differ from the world we now inhabit – the world we as humans have created in the following ways...
3. For this to happen, the following things would need to change about people....