The Stigma Against Being Wrong

When it comes to knowing things, we like to be right. We give praise to people who have lots of knowledge, and ridicule those who hold false beliefs. We feel it is our duty to correct them, because we feel it is wrong for people to believe false things. In fact, we use the same word, “wrong,” that we use to describe evil actions.

Why do we do this? Why do we feel so strongly that everyone should believe the truth, or at least as much of the truth as we feel should be obvious? Perhaps we believe that they must have based their beliefs on faulty reasoning, and by using that same reasoning they’ll fall prey to con artists and propaganda. Perhaps it is because we fear their false beliefs will cause them to hurt people. Perhaps it is because we care about them and don’t want them living in delusion. Part of it is certainly because we are afraid that our own beliefs might not be as well-grounded as we think, and the more people who agree with us, the more comfortable we can be with those beliefs.

Regardless, we treat having false beliefs as an abnormal condition that must be corrected. However, this stigma does more harm than good. Other people are as certain in their beliefs as we are in ours, and instead of seeing the truth in our words, they think we are the ones who need correcting. This leads to closed minds and hostility, and leaves us worse off than when we started.

To avoid this, to have good relationships and work productively together, we need to recognize that if someone believes something that is not true, it does not make them a bad person. If someone has the wrong idea of God or insists that the Earth is flat, it’s not that big a deal. Let them believe what they believe. The world is big enough for the both of you. No one believes only true things. We are all full of bias and assumptions. We are human, and what we really need is to be respected, not pressured to conform our beliefs to someone else’s expectations.

There is a time and place for everything.The time to debate facts with reason and evidence is when both parties come to the table with open minds, ready to think about things in new ways. This means you have to be willing to listen to them too, and change your mind if they present a good enough argument.

There are also times when a person’s convictions must be challenged, like when they believe God told them to kill someone. The line between false beliefs that are tolerable and those that are not is when they cause the person holding them to neglect their responsibilities. What exactly counts as a responsibility is debatable, but many of the things we argue about, like the compatibility of science and religion, are not even close.

This message is as much for me as for anyone. When I hear someone say biological evolution doesn’t happen, or universal basic income is socialism, or global warming is a hoax, I get mad. A few weeks ago, after I started writing this, I made a fiery reply to someone’s facebook post about multiverses. Reflecting on it afterward, I wondered if I was qualified to speak about being tolerant of others’ beliefs. However, I’ve realized that respectfully allowing others to be wrong is important enough that it’s worth saying, even if I’m not a shining exemplar of it.

Limits of the World – The Well of Images, Part 3

Read “Limits of the World” at WritersCafe.org.

Though it’s been four months, another installment of The Well of Images is finished, beta tested, and ready to read. We pick up with Samuel and Hope on their journey through the Unconscious Realms, as they search for the next symbol of the torch that will lead them forward.

“Limits of the World” is part 3 of the story arc, The Mentor, the Hero, and the Trickster. You can find the previous installments at WritersCafe, or by following the links in the “finished stories” tab at the top of this blog.

There are times, during the course of writing a story, when excitement for how amazing it will be later makes it hard to concentrate on the page in front of you. It feels like you are stuck at a boring part, and you wish you could skip ahead to the good stuff. That’s where I was with “Limits of the World.” I couldn’t wait to get to the parts of the story where the archetypal themes shine, but I was stuck with a part where the main characters run around on a scavenger hunt. Still, it was important. The best parts of a story can only have justice done to them if they are properly built up to.

So I toiled away at “Limits,” adding structure to the narrative, making sure that everything that happened was there for a purpose, and that the descriptions were interesting and representative of the viewpoint character. And you know what? It turned out well.

The Mentor, the Hero, and the Trickster:
1. Pandora’s Gate
2. Where Secrets Lie
3. Limits of the World
4. The Fool’s Gift
5. Loki’s Game

If you like my stories, or want to help out a fledgling novelist, you can support me on Patreon. Even a gesture of $1 per blog post would be a great encouragement.