We often turn to intellectually dependable people... to guide us through our blind spots. It's about considering the facts in light of our values & objectives... think things through together to figure out what we should do with the facts in our particular situation.People's emotions, thoughts & actions show whether they are dependable or not.Signs to look out for:<ul><li>Intellectual benevolence.</li><li>Intellectual transparency.</li><li>Communicative clarity.</li><li>Audience sensitivity.</li><li>Intellectual guidance.</li></ul>

Who can we trust for guidance

✅Virtuously sensitive: Pay attention to our particular views, experiences, abilities, & tendencies. Fit their communications to our predicament & help us advance❌Insensitive: Obsess more over their own features or too selective in their attention. Have a distorted view of listeners as they look for others’ weaknesses to see themselves as superior.❔How to know: Do they show an understanding of our point of view, intellectual needs, abilities.. & communicate in a way personal to who we are?

4. Audience sensitivity - appreciate unique perspective

✅Clear communicators: Easy to follow with clear main points, what's merely incidental, explain how their views might be confused with other contrasting ones. Prioritize our understanding the core meaning.❌Profundity-colored glasses: They misidentify gibberish as containing profound meaning. Dress up their empty ideas with seductive trappings leading their followers into confusion.❔How to know: Avoid those who shy away from putting their meaning clearly or insist it’s you who has the problem.

3. Communicative clarity - want to make the meaning clear

<ul><li>Do they get excited when I make intellectual progress, or only when they influence my views?</li><li>Are they fearful about sharing their ideas? Are they over-eager for others to approve of their ideas?</li><li>Are they willing and able to clarify their meaning if I ask them to? </li><li>Do they demonstrate an appreciation of my unique perspective, needs and abilities?</li><li>Do they show patience in trying to understand the complexities of my predicament, or are they in a hurry to identify a solution?</li></ul>

Questions to know how dependable is someone

✅ Intelly benevolent: Help us get to the truth, gain knowledge, deepen our undertanding, develop our skill. They have mature views about our progress and take pleasure in our growth.❌Social vigilantes: They don’t care that other people have correct views; they care that other people share their views.❔ How to know: Pay attention to what they get excited about - by your intellectual progress in general, or only when they succeed in influencing your thinking?

1. Intellectual benevolence - Prefer to guide or influence?

✅Transparent: Skilled at recognising they’re sometimes in a position to strengthen our perspective by sharing their own.❌Vain: Pretend to know things they don’t, or to have stronger evidence than they do.❌Timid: Even when they could help, they keep their thoughts to themselves because they don't trust their knowledge & fear exposing their ignorance. ❔ How to know: They might lack transparency if fearful of how their ideas will be perceived, or over-eager to please you or others.

2. Intellectual transparency - Transparent, vain, or reluctant

✅ Guide: Respect people's judgement in making choices, but are also skilled in helping us navigate the risks & benefits while learning & reaching the conclusion.❌Seize & freeze: They seize quickly on any information with promise of resolution. Once chosen, they freeze on that ignoring any contradictory information. They’re likely to offer unwise advice that oversimplifies the issue.❔How to know: Are they patient to understand the complexities or eager to 'fix it'?

5. Intellectual guidance - help navigate & make choices

Knotty problems call for sound advice. Use philosophy to find the intellectually dependable amid the frauds and egotists