How and Why You Should Enjoy Being Wrong

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One thing that has benefited me immensely is not just being comfortable with being wrong but actually finding joy in it.

Don't get me wrong.

The goal is not to be wrong more often. It's to recognize that we are all wrong more often than we would like to admit.

In psychology, there is a concept of the totalitarian ego. And basically, its job is to keep out threatening information that is in conflict with the ideologies or the ideas that you already have.

By default biological setting, it's quite comforting to deny this. But once you recognize things changes.

The reason you should enjoy being wrong is because once you discover what is wrong, it means you are now less wrong than before. Being wrong is the only way you can be sure that you have learned something. Your attachment to ideas, opinions or beliefs should be provisional and temporary. There should not be unconditional love for any ideas.

Now, how can you do that?

Famous psychologist Adam Grant at Wharton mentions one interesting strategy to help you think better.

It's by detaching your opinions from your identity. Most of us are so accustomed to defining ourselves in terms of our opinions—right vs. left, socialist vs. capitalist, pro-X or anti-X, etc. This makes us hostile to any information that can prove us wrong. The totalitarian ego jumps in to silence contrary information and prevents us from learning the right thing.

As a civil servant, it is especially important to recognize the value of a bottoms-up approach, incorporating insights and feedback from the people directly affected by the decisions being made. While not always in direct conflict, I have often observed divergences between theoretical knowledge and ground realities. The more I engage with people, the more I discover.

Again, the idea is not to just accept anything new but to be open about it. Who you are should be a question of what you value, not what you believe. Values are the core principles—fairness, justice, equity. Beliefs are just means to achieve them—just different paths to reach the goals of values.

When you define your identity by values, you give yourself flexibility to update your beliefs. You give yourself freedom to enjoy being wrong. And the faster you are to recognize where you are wrong, the faster you can move towards getting it right!

Pic: Discussion --> Being Wrong --> Reflection --> Learning