“I'm not wrong…you are!” Does this sound familiar? In her TED talk, Kathryn Schulz addresses that very topic: being wrong. Most people do not want to admit to being wrong. She explains that in the world today, we all try to avoid being wrong, or have to admit to thinking we are wrong. In our world, being wrong and making mistakes are looked down upon. Kathryn Schulz has spent the last 5 years of her life studying and thinking about those situations. She has wondered why we misunderstand the signs around us, how we react when we see those signs, and how that affects the human race. Even though we all seem to understand that as a human race, we are fallible, and that we can make mistakes, when it gets right down to it, in the present, we do not ever want to admit to being wrong. She describes it as each person walking around in a little bubble, and cannot think of anything they are wrong about. The problem is, the present tense is where we live. We go on vacations, vote, and live in the present. Therefore, we never think we are wrong. In her eyes, it is a problem individually and collectively. She goes on to ask some people in the audience how they felt when they were wrong. The responded with answers like: embarrassed, thumbs down, and dreadful. But even though we think this is how it feels to be wrong, in reality, when we are wrong, it does not feel like anything- it feels like we are right. Those feelings are what we feel when we realize that we are wrong. The definition she gives for feeling right is, "your beliefs perfectly reflect reality." She gives the wonderful illustration of the wolf in the Loony Tunes cartoon, where the coyote runs off the cliff, but does not fall until he looks down. This is like us. We feel like we are right until we get the cue, and when we look, we fall, and it is too late. By the time we are about 9, we have been taught that people who make mistakes are stupid dimwits, and that the way to succeed in life is to never make any mistakes. Most of us believe these brainwashing ideas, and so we suck up, and become perfectionists and straight-A students. We do not want to be labeled as “stupid”. She describes how when we get something wrong, we freak out because we think that means that there is something wrong with us. So, in turn, we just keep insisting that we are right, because it makes us feel safe, smart, and virtuous. Then Kathryn relays a story about a woman who went in to get surgery, and when she woke up, she told the doctor that it was on the wrong side of her body. Kathryn Schulz insisted that sometimes it is not good to just act off of our feelings, or our "sense of rightness" because it can be dangerous. When we act this way, we never entertain the idea that we could possibly be wrong, and then huge mistakes can be made. When we feel that we are right, we have to solve a problem-dealing with all the people who disagree with you. Unfortunately, we tend to make 3 assumptions. First, that they are ignorant, because they do not have the same information. Second, that they are idiots, and too stupid to put it all together. And thirdly, that they are evil and just using trying to hurt others by manipulation. In reality, we end up treating each other very horribly. As Kathryn Schulz very strongly emphasized, this is tragic, because the whole point of being human is to mess up. She quoted a very interesting quote by Augustine, which said, "I err, therefore I am." As she explains it, our capacity to be wrong and make mistakes is not a flaw, and it is not something to be embarrassed about or try to overcome: it is part of our nature. It is fundamental to who we are. The miracle of the human mind is that we can see life as it is not , not as it is. We think that everyone should be able to see out the same little window that we do, and we get frustrated when they do not, but the fact is, that is good. If we all did see everything the same way, we would not be different. We need moments of error and surprise for the world to turn 'round. Unlike God, we cannot see what is going to happen or see the whole scheme of things at once. We cannot grasp that, and so we are so obsessed with trying to figure it out. And according to Kathryn Schulz, that is the source of all of our creativity and productivity. But another irony is that we love to be wrong in stories, like when we predict the end of a movie, but it takes an entirely different twist the other way. What we do not realize is that our lives are like this, and we do not see that it is exactly the same. This is life, for good or for bad. We need more innovations, advancements and improvements, because every time there is something new, it is not good enough after a short while; hence, why we keep having more conferences, more stories, and more ideas. To sum up, she makes it very clear that to rediscover wonder, we need to step outside of our little "bubble of rightness", and look out at each other, and the world, and take a step back and say "wow, maybe I am wrong."
From Kathryn Schulz's TED talk, I came away with two main concepts. The first being our natural impulse. We have the desire to always be right. Even though we admit that we can make mistakes, the second we make one, we either do not realize it, or we just do not want to admit it. The second main concept is how much we are mistaken in this area. As a human population in general, we do not understand the purpose or value of being wrong. We need to become satisfied with making mistakes sometimes.
I agree with many points that Kathryn Schulz made, the first of them being the irony of our understanding of being wrong. We recognize that as a whole we are prone to making mistakes and we understand that we are wrong sometimes, but individually, we cannot see that. I think the analogy of the bubble around us is a perfect analogy of this. From my standpoint, I feel that this is partly because of our self-pride. I think that inside, we really do see that we are wrong, we just do not want to admit it openly. Especially in situations when we are with others, we do not want to be wrong. It is sometimes embarrassing, and people feel like they will always be wrong after that. Starting from childhood, when we are taught, and particularly as teenagers, and then even still as adults, we want to feel good about ourselves, and being wrong does not give that feeling. It is also our natural fondness of feeling smart that drives this inclination to cover up. However, I feel like this issue is also brought about by how we are taught as children. Like Kathryn Schulz was saying, by a young age, we have learned that mistakes are bad, and that the only way to succeed is to always be right. These are detrimental false truths, because that guides our every action from then on. In school, work, home life, and everything else, we try to always be right and always succeed. We become overachievers, and do not settle for less than perfect. I feel this in my own life, because I am a perfectionist (which is also just part of who I am), and I will not settle for less than all A's. In sports, I feel like I have to be the best, and when I lose, I tend to get really mad and then I do worse. This can relate to the exact topic that Schulz was making about not admitting our faults. When we just go with our gut instinct all the time and do not let the thought pass our mind that we might be wrong, then we end up making even bigger mistakes. Just like the doctor who performed surgery on the wrong leg and the incident of dumping a whole lot of oil by Mexico, the end result will turn out worse than if we had just admitted to being wrong and redirected in the right path. Another valid point that she discusses, and I agree with is that being wrong is part of being human. Like Kathryn Schulz said, God knows everything that is going on, but we cannot see that in the same way. If he did not intend for us to make mistakes, then he would have made the human race infallible, and we would all be perfect. If we were that way, no one could have new ideas, and so everyone would think and act the same. With new idea comes mistake. It is impossible to be right if there is no wrong. Just as Clay Shirky talked about in his TED talk, it is impossible to get the serious without the throw away. It is not possible to have right without wrong or perfection without mistakes. I also agree with Kathryn Schulz's statement that we need to step outside our little bubble of rightness and really come to see what is out there, and be able to admit to being wrong. No one person is perfect. It is hard to imagine that one could feel so confidently infallible when they look around and see the marvel of nature, of life, and of the mysteries beyond. It is so detailed and individually thought through, but yet so interconnected. How could any one person see all that and not wonder or admit to no knowing everything?
This video connects very deeply to me personally. I am definitely a person who is an overachiever and has to be a perfectionist all the time. I thrive off of getting good grades and I love it when I am right. I love the feeling of having someone praise me for my work. I too feel insufficient, embarrassed, and even confused when I am wrong. I am used to being so correct, or at least thinking that I am, that I sometimes get too wrapped up in it. Learning to be wrong, and not be ashamed of it is something I could really work on. This talk really helped me come to that conclusion, and also realize that I can still be smart by being wrong. I think the problem with this whole idea, is that most of the world is now in a pattern of discarding wrong ideas, and criticizing those who are wrong, that it would be hard to make that switch of not having that attitude any longer. Now that I have heard this, I am definitely going to change my thoughts towards being wrong, but even when I make a mistake, others around me will still disapprove, and see it as a sign of stupidity. This can be applied to education in the same way. The big majority of teachers base their class off of grading-which is primarily getting answers right or wrong. Though I have never thought of it in this way before, this is a serious mistake. Just as Kathryn Schulz said, teaching kids that they need to always be right is horrible, because then they will never make a mistake, and then no progress can be made. Kids learn early that they have to get the right answers in school, and so no matter what, whether they cheat or do it honestly, they will get the right answer. This sends the message to the students that they go to school to learn how to get a good grade by doing what the teacher wants. This can be a good skill in life, but that is definitely not the purpose of education, and it does not teach kids to really work hard to come up with new, creative ideas. For me personally, this is not even an effective way of learning. Getting the answers just to do the worksheet for a grade does not motivate me to learn the material. In the past, I have been OK with that, because honestly, I am motivated by the grades, not by the information. After an entire year of doing worksheets, I usually only remember a few random details from the class. But it is OK, because I got an A! Now, I know that this is not sufficient, and that I need to learn to understand the material, that I can apply in my life once I am out of school. Grades are not an accurate measure of intelligence in the way that it should be measured. I wish, like Kathryn Schulz, that I could help everyone see this concept, and understand that being wrong is a characteristic of human beings, and that it is ok to be wrong. Once something is wrong, then it can be built off of, and made into something better and more successful. Just as I mentioned before, there cannot be anything right unless there is wrong, and similarly, if there is nothing mediocre, then there cannot be anything to compare the stunning ideas to. I think this applies in business, like with inventions and new creations. Everything starts with an idea. When that idea is not a success at first, then it can be learned from, and the mistakes made the first time will not be made again. Also in the world, I feel like this might not be such a huge problem everywhere. In the United States, most people are very fortunate, and we have freedom. In many other places, people live under much more humble circumstances, and that causes them to be much more humble. I think that there are many people in this world who do admit to being wrong, and they use that to learn from their mistakes. If everyone took that example, then the world would be a much more progressive and happy place.
Kathryn Schulz did a very good job of using unusual techniques to engage the audience. One of the main strategies she used was humor. She started out telling a humorous story about a road trip that she took, where she thought that the road sign for picnic area was a Chinese symbol. That made the audience laugh, and a few other times she used jokes to help the audience feel more engaged, like when she said that she had no job competition. Another effective technique she used was that of visuals. Like many other TED talk deliverers, she projected many images on the screen that helped go along with the points she was addressing. For example, she showed the road sign she referenced, and a man walking off a cliff, a graded paper, and some pictures of space. This really helps those visual learners really grasp the meaning more. At one point in her talk, she actually went up to a few of the people sitting in the front row, and asked them a question. Although it does not matter what it was, she made them feel very engaged and like they were part of the presentation. People are always much more engaged when their opinion is included. Plus, then she used that information for the rest of her talk, so she probably did some on the spot improvising. One characteristic of Kathryn Schulz and her talk that made it easier and more realistic was that she was not too advanced in language. With some of the other TED speakers, I felt like I was in a highly scientific college course, and I had no idea what half of the terms meant. With her though, I felt like I understood the majority of what she was conveying, and I think that was an effective technique she used. A similar technique that Schulz used was stories and real life examples. She started with a story of a road trip, and used the dumping of oil in Mexico to prove a point, and then later told two stories, one about a child receiving a C-, and the other about a lady going into surgery. Whatever the point, that story or example made it much more relatable, because story is one of the ways we learn best.
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