Too often, we learn about the exemplary character of a person, or some amazing things they did in life, only after their death. It is quite a shame. I felt a great deal of regret at a friend’s funeral not too long ago. Although I had known him for a long time and we had engaged in countless conversations over the years, I learned some spectacular new things about him from the eulogies delivered by his wife and other close friends of his during the memorial service.

As I listened to the tributes, it occurred to me that instead of waiting till people die before making such glowing information public, it would make a lot more sense to have these celebrations while they still walk among us. That way, we could engage in more fulfilling conversations with them and be inspired by the virtues that so often go unnoticed. I recalled other times when, after reading obituaries of certain people, I wished I had known something about them during their lifetimes. I had that letdown recently when I read this moving article in the Wall Street Journal about Edward Leamer, a professor of economics who taught at UCLA for over four decades before retiring in 2018.

The entire world is agitated today for many reasons. One of the leading causes of our distress is a severe dearth of humility. It is quite frightening to watch the ever-growing numbers of people across the globe who are so certain of their beliefs that they make no accommodations for persuasion. Because there is little room for debate nowadays, listening has essentially stopped everywhere.

This wall of intransigence is what Professor Leamer is said to have spent much of his life trying to break down. As an economist, he focused much of his efforts on trying to convince members of his profession to be a bit less sure of themselves. He was quoted as saying to his fellow economists during a 2020 podcast interview that “We’re going to persuade each other. But we’re never going to get to the point where we really know the truthfulness of a complex human system like an economic system.” He wanted them to think of their work as “observing patterns and telling stories about data, not uncovering definitive truths.”

According to the article, Professor Leamer’s calls for humility were not received well by some in his field. His charge that “economists often had a bias toward the results they wanted or that were the kinds of firm conclusions that led to press coverage, funding and policy positions they supported” is said to have rankled many. His academic career began at Harvard, but he was denied tenure there, in the view of some colleagues, partly because “his ideas didn’t support those of the top economists at Harvard.”

Despite being somewhat ostracized initially, Leamer later gained influence. He is known to have inspired scholars not only in economics, but also in other fields, to be transparent in their work. The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences reportedly named an award after him.

Sadly, not many ordinary people like me knew about Professor Leamer when he was alive. But voices like his are what our world desperately needs today. His messages about humility have universal application, and more of us should have been hearing them, not just the people in his field. Publishers of mainstream newspapers like the Wall Street Journal should do us a service by showcasing such inspiring characters while they are alive. They are our best hope of getting out of this morass that we find ourselves in.