Sunday, May 1, 2011

it's good to be wrong.

This morning, while visiting Diane's blog, Contemplative Photography, I watched a Ted Talk video link she shared to Elisabeth Lesser. I was inspired by Elisabeth's talk to keep searching for more fascinating speaks and found myself listening and watching Kathryn Schulz speak 'on being wrong'.

It's well worth the 18 minutes.

Enjoy your Sunday.


"When it comes down to me right now, to all the beliefs I hold, here in the present tense, suddenly all of this abstract appreciation of fallibility goes out the window -- and I can't actually think of anything I'm wrong about. And the thing is, the present tense is where we live. We go to meetings in the present tense; we go on family vacations in the present tense; we go to the polls and vote in the present tense. So effectively, we all kind of wind up traveling through life, trapped in this little bubble of feeling very right about everything. " Kathryn Schulz, On Being Wrong. Ted 2011





5 comments:

Maureen said...

Good video talk on an important subject. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Elgie,

I watched Schulz's TED talk last week - 3 times; it is powerful enlightenment. Good on you for pointing people to it.

I sent it to an ex- . . she wrote back that she watched it twice and didn't get it. It seems some people can't admit ever possibly being wrong.

The reality Schulz points out - and hard to accept - is that many things we are doing today, everyday, or any day - things we think we are so clear or right about, we are most likely partially or completely wrong about.

It is, for me, all about distance and perspective.

As I get older, I don't have to get quite as far away from something or some date . . to realize how wrong I was.

Maybe wrong, is the new right!

Cheers,

Mark

Louise Gallagher said...

Love this line Mark -- As I get older, I don't have to get quite as far away from something or some date . . to realize how wrong I was.


so true!

Ruth said...

Wonderful talk. Isn't it the most phenomenal shift? I can honestly say that my life has changed dramatically since letting go of the need to be right. I no longer feel embarrassed when I'm wrong. I do feel bad though, when someone else is inconvenienced when I have made a mistake. But until machines do all the work in the world, mistakes will go on being made. (And even with machines, I suppose.)

Thanks, Louise. Excellent talk.

trisha said...

i too think its good to be wrong. :)