I agree about the critical thinking since there's at least a glimmer of thought in almost everyone. That's what much of the brain is for. But overall, is the discipline of economics humble or arrogant?

Those thought leaders in economics are indeed pretty ideological. They're set in their ways, and they often have political allegiances which make it hard for them to change their mind on major issues.

All institutions have this conservative, tribal tendency, as Thomas Kuhn explained in the case of normal vs revolutionary science. We depend on our models to make sense of the world, so we treat them as our brainchildren, as Plato said. The scientific culture of humanism, though, is inherently revolutionary and progressive because it promotes skepticism.