Epistemic
Relating to knowledge or the conditions for acquiring it. Epistemic humility acknowledges the limits of what we can know; epistemic closure means a belief system is immune to contradicting evidence.
Biological Context
Organisms face epistemic constraints—limits on what they can sense and know about their environment. Bats have sonar knowledge; bees perceive ultraviolet. Each species has its own epistemic world (umwelt). Evolution optimizes not for truth but for survival-relevant information.
Business Application
Epistemic humility is crucial for strategy: acknowledging what we don't and can't know. Markets are epistemically efficient—they aggregate distributed knowledge. Organizations must balance epistemic confidence (necessary for action) with epistemic humility (necessary for learning).