i wish there wasn’t such a stigma around being proved wrong, bc it’s a part of life, no one can be right all the time. if we didn’t feel as much shame about it i think a lot of things would change a lot faster
we all need to practice saying “I hadn’t thought of it like that” “I hadn’t seen it that way before” “I must have misunderstood the first time I heard about it” “if I had known those facts I wouldn’t have thought like I did”
Can I just say I really love @feminismandhappiness‘s addition, because for those of us who grew up being valued for our intelligence, it’s really okay if admitting you were wrong is difficult, and learning to approach it in a different way can be really helpful! Here are some other ways that might be easier to digest, for those of us who have trouble with the whole “I was wrong” thing.
“Thank you for giving me more context!”
“That makes a lot more sense now.”
“I really appreciate the additional information on this subject.”
“Your perspective is really helping me understand this better.”
“I’m going to do some more research now that I realize how complex this issue really is.”
“I didn’t realize how much information was left out when I was taught about this the first time.”
“I see that my opinion was being deliberately guided in one specific direction. Thank you for helping me realize that.”
“This was way over-simplified when I first encountered it. I’m glad I’m starting to see the whole picture.”
“Now I get it!”
“You’ve given me a lot to think about, thank you!”
“I can see this is something I’ll need to look into a bit more before I jump to conclusions.”
“I am happy to have more data. Now I can draw a more accurate conclusion.”
“This is really helping me re-contextualize this issue.”
“This is much more nuanced than I realized before. I can see how the information I had access to previously has been oversimplified.”
“This really is more complicated than I originally thought. I’m glad I can take this new information into account.”
Being wrong isn’t a personal failing, but it can be difficult to realize that if you grew up being praised for being smart. Learning to accept changes of opinion as simply “new conclusions based on more thorough research” can be a really useful step in internalizing that idea.
Published
ifesbob 