Do you ever say to yourself, "It's possible that I don't know what I'm talking about"?

Often. out loud, to others. It happens during free form conversations when theories are being tossed around and something sounds good and logical and sensible, but I have no real expertise and not much knowledge in the area.

Sometimes.

All the time. It’s basically the foundation of my line of work.

Constantly. I am often affected by “imposter syndrome” and question how on earth I got to such-and-such a place professionally and academically.

More casually, when chatting about something, I very often end with, “I could easily be wrong” or “Of course, I don’t actually know”.

The upside to having decent instincts and being fairly autodidactic is that I can figure out a lot of stuff. The downside is I regularly feel like a fraud.

No. I never say anything that I’m not sure about, and if I do, I state it as such.

Daily.

Fairly often.

Yes, I do and I question myself and am willing to admit to wrongness more than I may have in the past. There are many others whom I wish would think more and talk (or write) less.

Yes, it’s an important concept to learn. It helps you avoid reasoning traps.

All the time, and when it’s something important, like with health matters, I try to find out, so that I can know what I’m talking about.

I also say it with matters such as religion, but since that is based on faith, more so, if not completely, rather than fact, there is no real tangible way to get to the truth, and it doesn’t really matter or change the way I live my life, even if I don’t know.

At age 57, it’s become clear that life isn’t black and white, as once thought. Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to, ask sincere questions, and ask for their sources. It’s challenging when their sources are based upon an individual situation vs. more global statistics.

Will I admit that I was wrong? Absolutely, as long as there is verifiable proof. It now happens more often than not.

I think we all have moments like that. In my case I really don’t care..if I’m right, I’m right, if I’m wrong I’m wrong. I suspect the world will continue to spin, even when I am guilty of Open Mouth, Insert Foot.

All the time. And I’m pretty sure that other people don’t either.

Yes. I’ve said it to myself and to others about myself. Sometimes I’m very glad I was wrong or realize I’m confusing something.

Of course. Sometimes I realize I’m in over my head. We all have those moments, even if some of us have difficulty admitting it when it happens.

In real life, I often don’t know what I’m talking about so I will sit quietly and listen to what others have to say. On the internet, I often don’t know what I’m talking about, as well, so what I’ll do is google and find links, and post links. Instead of saying “I think” or “I heard” or “they say” I’ll just provide a link, usually from a legit site.

@jca2: “They say…” drives me bananas. When someone leads with that, I always ask, “Who is ‘they’?”

Drives my wife crazy. She hates when I do that, but there’s a big difference between ‘they’ = Facebook and ‘they’ = The Boston Globe.

Yes – In my more lucid moments ;)