Being Right

So, I'm still reading this Being Wrong book, about halfway through, and it is quite fascinating. We think that we weigh all the evidence and form our opinions and judgements in a very rational way. So that when we come up with an answer or a stand or an opinion or a belief, we are convinced that we have done a good job of getting there. We are also convinced that our answer is right... like Right! But then, if other people have a different answer or stand or opinion or belief, we think that they haven't done the same due diligence in forming their opinions. We think that they are lacking in information. We think that they are somehow less diligent than us. They don't believe the same thing that we believe, and if we are right, then they must be wrong. And guess what, they think the same thing about us...

We see this most commonly in religion, where Catholics, for example, believe that their religion is the true faith and that other religions just don't have it all together. If people of other faiths only knew the whole truth, then they would obviously become Catholic. And Muslims think the same thing... and Evangelical Christians... and Jews...

Truth is though, we don't always form our opinions or beliefs in a rational, logical way. We go with the herd a lot of the time. We don't see things as they really are, we see things as we believe them to be... Every single opinion, belief, judgement we have about anything... always has the possibility of error within it... We don't have all the answers, but we sure think that we do!