I’ve probably been wrong more often than anybody I know.
I like to think that’s simply because I know my own thoughts. I know all the times when I’ve come to a firm conclusion about something — only to be forced to change what I believe as I learn more and gain more wisdom.
Maybe a lot of other people feel the same inside. Maybe they’ve seen themselves take dogmatic positions and then had to admit — at least to themselves — that they were wrong.
I fear, though, that most people believe they’ve rarely been wrong. At least about the “big things.”
I have a feeling that most people believe they were taught the truth early in life — because they happened to be born into the only group which was right — or else they broke away from whatever they were taught as children. Those in that second group seem to believe that whatever they decided to believe at that point in life is the truth.
Most people seem to believe they have life figured out. Most have little interest in understanding why other people see reality differently than they do. Even those who want to be honest and consistent in their beliefs resist change, because pride leaves us afraid to change when we discover we’ve been wrong.
I know what that feels like. That’s the way I lived for years. I was rarely wrong — in my own mind — because I rarely changed what I believed. One of the hardest things I ever learned is that growth and wisdom required me to accept that I’ve been wrong about much of what I’ve believed.
What’s more, I’m still wrong about some of the things I believe. I simply don’t know yet which of my beliefs are wrong.