On Being Wrong

Kathryn Schulz wrote a book called Being Wrong and gave a TED talk on the subject I found fascinating. She spoke on the nature of being wrong and voiced precisely what I have been mulling over for the past decade or so.

I consider myself well-versed in being wrong. I can say without doubt that I've been wrong most of my life about most things. You could say, I'm right about my wrongness. I was raised to be very certain and sure. Or maybe I tend to be a certain and sure person. My teenage years were not exempt from what seems to be the normal experience of feeling completely right about everything. I was most certain of my faith in the Christian supernatural. This blessed assurance carried me softly and tenderly into adulthood.

All it took was a serious look into the question of "What if I'm wrong?" Schulz asks her audience what it feels like to be wrong and they tell her it's embarrassing and sad. But she says that's what it's like to realize you're wrong. What does it feel like to be wrong? Her metaphor was Wiley Coyote running off a cliff after the Roadrunner. He doesn't fall until he looks down and notices he's in mid air. Before that glance downward it was as if he were standing on solid ground.  Being wrong feels a whole lot like being right before you realize your error. And yet, we all would say we're standing on solid ground.

Why am I so afraid of being wrong? As a person who has made a drastic paradigm shift after understanding I was wrong about so much, I feel like I'm in the place to say that being wrong requires so much change and upheaval - much more than being right. It is a wonderfully comfortable position to be in when you're right - even if you haven't taken the chance to look down to make sure you're on solid ground. Maybe Wiley should have never looked down. Maybe I shouldn't have either.

Schulz appeals for us to rediscover a sense of wonder and allow ourselves to seriously consider that we may be wrong. I have done so in the last decade and can agree with her that it has broadened my understanding of existence and has made room for more people in my world. My new paradigm surely feels right. I have less questions about the contradictions of my experience and my presuppositions. I'm happier.

I'm also keeping an eye on my feet.