New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- Intelligence is often associated with certainty. We admire people who speak confidently, defend their opinions and appear to know exactly what they are doing. But what if one of the clearest signs of intelligence is actually the willingness to admit that you might be wrong?

Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky captured that paradox in a memorable observation: "The cleverest of all, in my opinion, is the man who calls himself a fool at least once a month."

The line is commonly circulated in this form, although translations vary. It is associated with Dostoevsky's 1873 short story Bobok, where a longer version says that the wisest person is the one who can call himself a fool, even if only once a month.

At first, the ...