Opinions Change

Opinions change, and they should change as more and better evidence surfaces. There are words for this: “learning” and “growing” are but two of them.

Communication plays a key role in changing opinions. I’ve been studying communication recently and I’ve decided it’s a miracle anyone is ever able to communicate with anyone else. There are several reasons; one reason is we’re wrong more than we are right.

On Being Wrong

In her TED talk Kathryn Schulz, "Wrongologist," states “We misunderstand signs around us.” "I can’t actually think about anything I’m wrong about. At least not in the present tense." "So effectively we all wind up… traveling through life… trapped in this little bubble of feeling very right about everything." "How does it feel – emotionally – how does it feel to be wrong? How does it feel to realize you’re wrong?"

Her main point is: "Just being wrong doesn’t feel like anything."

Kathryn goes on to explain: "The way to succeed in life is to never make any mistakes." "…getting something wrong means there’s something wrong with us."

In response:

We assume people are ignorant.
We assume people are idiots.
We assume people are evil.

"This attachment to our own rightness keeps us from preventing mistakes when we absolutely need to, and causes us to treat each other terribly." "The miracle of your mind isn’t that you can see the world as it is. It’s that you can see the world as it isn’t."

Her (Brilliant, in my opinion) Conclusion:

"It does feel like something to be wrong. It feels like being right."

I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to the TED talk. It’s awesome, as is Kathryn’s book: