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!

Being Wrong

I've started reading a book called Being Wrong, all about this whole human thing of erring and making mistakes. The author says that making mistakes and being wrong is actually one of our greatest gifts. It's how we learn things... it's how we make different choices. I'm only in the early stages of the book, so it will be interesting to see how she comes to that conclusion!!

So often, we see mistakes and errors as abject failures on our part. We castigate ourselves or others for mistakes and failures. We have a heck of a time admitting that we have said or done something wrong. In fact, we like to believe that we are right pretty much most of the time. Apparently that is the tricky thing with being wrong... you never know you are wrong in the moment... but always after the fact. At the time when you are making a mistake or error... you always think you are right... Our recognition of it as a mistake or as something wrong is the moment where we see what we've been doing.

Which makes me wonder... even if we know something is "wrong"... when we do it, we still think that it is the right thing to do... Otherwise we wouldn't be doing it. Do do the wrong thing, knowing it is the wrong thing and believing it is the wrong thing... well, that would be kind of crazy... Which means that we are master justifiers... we can justify pretty much anything. We can convince ourselves that black is white, or at least a fetching shade of grey... Amazing actually...

So, ultimately, how do we really know that we are doing is right? And we're not talking about moral right/wrong... although that can get swept up into the whole things as well. What we're talking about is making a decision or a choice... and having it be the right one.. Can we ever know? And does it even make any difference if we decide wrongly?