Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

The author explores the impact of personal error on our identities. Schulz details the identity crisis we undergo upon discovering we are wrong, our emotional reaction to that error, our irrational allegiance to certainty, and the fact that we cannot know others as selves because a self is only knowable from within. Through these topics, Schulz demonstrates that our beliefs are inextricable from our identities and often hinder our relational understanding.

Such an existential identity crisis—triggered by discovering our wrongness—is a testament to our beliefs’ centrality to our identities. Although we like to believe we are consistent, self-knowing creatures, in reality, we are unable to maintain psychological stasis long enough to be truly knowable to ourselves. Additionally, because we feel that certain aspects of the personality should be fixed and unwavering, the reality of our ultimate inexplicability and unpredictability is highly uncomfortable to us. When we discover we are wrong, we are suddenly at odds with ourselves, which explains why being incorrect so easily disrupts our sense of self. Confronting our own errors also reveals to us that we are not always how we imagined ourselves to be. Furthermore, the author argues that we detest being wrong because it reminds us that we are ultimately alone in the world. However, the author contends that such existential crises allow for us to see things—including ourselves—in a different light as we undergo a transformative process that the author terms “conversion.” When we acknowledge and embrace our own mistakenness and appropriately restructure our beliefs, this is a reconstitution of the self. Information that challenges our beliefs can lead to progress and growth.

Schulz asserts that our reaction to being wrong is inherently emotional; we dread error’s associated emotions of humiliation and inferiority. Avoiding such a sensation is thus an aversion to negative feelings. Denial, a common response to error, is a defense mechanism that protects us from not only the difficulty of our circumstances but also the experience of acknowledging our mistakes.

We have an aversion not only to error’s associated negative emotions, but also to the panic and anguish related to uncertainty. Certainty provides the illusion of a stable and comfortable environment, whereas uncertainty leaves us unmoored and unable to find our footing in the world. However, Schulz argues that despite the emotional discomfort of uncertainty, learning from our mistakes—and the uncertainty they bring—is required for moral and intellectual development. By sitting with the feeling of being wrong and cultivating the capacity to accept this state, we move toward appropriately reexamining our beliefs and reshaping our identities.

Finally, the text addresses identity through an exploration of what the self entails and how we relate to one another. Nagel’s essay “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” illustrates how we can never truly know others’ experience of their own consciousness. We are incapable of understanding others as selves; the self can only be understood from the inside. While this alienates us from others and can lead to our dismissing their beliefs, the point of Nagel’s essay is that even though we cannot know others’ experiences, their reality is no less real or valid than ours. Schulz thus makes the case that, in order to connect with and understand others, we must honor that others’ experiences are independent from our own.