Being wrong isn’t a bad thing,which seems like a revolutionary idea, and that’s the basis for the book “Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error” by Kathryn Schulz, which is the idea this article is written around.
In a junior level communications class we were told to read a book about “being wrong” and my initial thought was that this book was going to explain to us how to own up to your mistakes and other topics of that nature. Instead, this book goes on to explain the flaws in our society about “wrongness.” First we have to think about being right-- and how it makes us feel. Schulz asks why do we like being right? And it’s hard to formulate a real answer for that question. Being right, is the right answer. Being right means we succeeded, so does that mean being wrong means we failed?
This is where society says yes -- if you are wrong you have failed at whatever task you were working on, but there are better ways of looking at the terrifying idea of wrong. Schulz thinks we should look at being wrong as a clear path for improvement. When a student gets a paper back with red circles on every line sheer panic shows in their eyes but Schulz wants people to realize that every single blotch of red smeared across that paper is showing you exactly how much better your paper will be next time.
Society makes being wrong a dehumanizing and embarrassing idea -- so much so we never want to admit it. We expect to be right about every single thing that happens in our lives 24/7, 365 days a year which is unrealistic. Think about how many times a day you forget something, or lose a quip with a friend, or maybe have even gone to the wrong classroom? The embarrassment is so strong for those few minutes following the action, especially when in public, but why. The chances are, every single person you’ve passed by on the street, or on campus, or in the elevator, will be wrong at least once through the duration of the day, so why are we so embarrassed about it? We shouldn’t be, and this is what Schulz is challenging everyone to change their mindset to.
Some of the greatest ideas in history were wrong - and they were wrong from the second they were spoken or written down or published in an article. They may have been corrected eventually but did that make them any less credible when they were first stated? All I ask of anyone who takes the time to read this article, read her book or maybe watch her TED talk (linked below) is to challenge yourself and your idea of wrong. Believe that being wrong is a good thing and being wrong is the only catalyst for positive change.
_
_
If reading a book or article isn’t your style or you’re more of an audio/visual observer she did a magnificent TED talk on the topic. http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_w...
