In my youth Fr. Ferriols, SJ taught me, via a study of the Apologia of Aristotle, that I do not know anything, and that knowing that I do not know anything is the starting point of any real understanding.
Human undertakings of reason suffer from the arrogance of the mind that holds that reason. Soon enough even facts are bent to make room for that arrogance. The antidote to this is humility before the truth. When we start from an acceptance of our own ignorance, it becomes possible to learn.
From that starting point, a careful mind using disciplined reason can come to a sense of the truth that lies beyond the self. Then it becomes possible to understand why the other would hold views strongly opposed to one’s own. After that correcting error whether in the mind of the other or in One’s own is possible.
The limitations highlighted in the article are real. But, as in all things, they are not absolute.
Link to original article here.