Do you ever think "what if I'm wrong"?

I find out I am wrong sometimes. When I get new data that shows me I was wrong, I incorporate and move on.

@Marina can you remember an instance?

I’m wrong sometimes.. or maybe I’m wrong about that.

@NaturalMineralWater what are the things you’re usually wrong about? does it have to do with other people? or things? or numbers?

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Yes.

People – I’ve misread their personality based on first impressions… wrong
Numbers – I’m always getting things wrong on math tests.. wrong

Everyone is wrong from time to time.. there are so many things you could mention.. not enough space.

I second guess myself all the time with math and all sorts of life decisions, big and small. I thought it when I decided moving to CO was a good idea, and I thought it when I decided a new blazer would look good with a certain pair of shoes. I guess I think “what if I’m wrong” a lot. I follow my gut, but I’m constantly internally second guessing my decisions. Don’t most people?
Just tonight I bought the boy something on line thinking he’d love it… and now I’m wondering if I wasted my money.

@Likeradar don’t most people? I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking, :)

Yes.

Not too long ago, someone asked a question on Fluther about how things become codified as standards when they may not make sense in the modern day.

I went to look up what I thought I knew about the gauge of railroads to refresh myself on the details before posting my answer, only to find out I was completely wrong!

It is apparently a myth that it is based on the width of carriage tracks.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir touche. :)

Wrong how? I can be wrong about the capital of Uganda, but I can’t be wrong about my perceptions. When my perceptions change, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t consider myself having been wrong, but uniformed; maybe ignorant is a better word for it.

I am ignorant about so many things, but I only think about it when it’s painfully apparent.

@Likeradar nah, wasn’t saying it like that…i think most people do second guess themselves…i try hard not to, but of course still do

@tinyfaery so did you ever tell someone ‘i’m sorry i was wrong’
or to yourself’ i was wrong about that’...?

Heh, I need to stop thinking that so much, actually. It’s paralyzing.

I constantly reassess myself. When I am making something at work, it is not unusual for me to tear it apart and rebuild it again. When driving, I always question my route.
It’s really crippling.

If I’m wrong about the capital of Uganda, I say it. But I don’t see how my perceptions affect anyone else.

@tinyfaery
well if your perceptions are about them, i can see where it’d affect them

I try to treat all people the same, no matter how I feel about them. Unless, of course, I’m triggered in some way. But that only happens with people I am close to. And then I do not hesitate to apologize.

A healthy person asks “what if I’m wrong” pretty regularly. It’s part of the self-regulation process.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic now that just sounded like something to do with pooping…so i know it is time for bed

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Pooping? That wasn’t what I was thinking although now it is…
Anyway, no intentional poop double entendres here.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic i know i know, it’s my mind…self-regulation sounds just as fun as pooping when constipated, but hey, that’s just me

No, I only give the thought of what my mind is formulating, apply my best analysis of its content, and create a reality from my vision. Sometimes I may prove to be wrong, but I can reconfigure my synaptical firings to reformulate an alternate hypthosis. This relieves my sense of right or wrong and redirects my energies to a more positive and helpful goal. Thinking about being wrong is in itself a self fulfilling prophecy to be wrong.

yes, but then sometimes i think maybe i’m wrong about my being wrong. i may think i’m wrong, but i may be right.
fyi i now have you may be right by billy joel stuck in my head

It happens all the time to me. Kids come in and say they are starving and beg for money.I used to just give them cash then when I saw the kid giving the money to an adult out front, made me wonder about the whole thing. Now I hate it because I don’t know whether I am actually turning my back on a hungry kid or just not contributing to the next drink or smoke for an adult.

So most of the time, I just walk up the street with them and buy them a sandwich or a pie.

All sorts of similar situtations happen every day, makes me crazy.

This just happened to me… My kid had a funny bump on the back of her thigh, so I said aloud, “Kid, you’d better make sure I take a good luck at the bump tomorrow, and don’t let me forget.” because I was worried that she had got bit by something and/or maybe she had Lyme Disease.

Is she had Lyme’s, her father would go apeshit and never let me take her outside for the rest of the summer!

Well, it got a red oval ring around it, and the next morning I took her straight to the doctor, who said it wasn’t Lyme. I thought it was, but thought, “What if I’m wrong.”

He didn’t want her taking 3 weeks of Doxycyclene if she didn’t have Lyme, but I thought it was better safe than sorry, but what if I was wrong.

Luckily, some of my friends on Facebook said I should pursue it, and I looked up different images online, and then had five days of fighting with the pediatrician, took my kid somewhere else, and actually had her blood drawn and tested for Lyme, even though it turns out that it may now show up for several weeks. My poor child.

I complained to the owner of the Pediatric Clinic, and took her back in, and ultimately they put her on the antibiotics, but i was terrified, because what I was wrong and had accepted the doctor’s view and my daughter got really really sick?

What if I was wrong and she didn’t have Lyme and I made all this huge fuss ?

Well, she DID have Lyme.

I decided that if I had been wrong, it was okay, because I was looking out for someone I love. It’s okay to be wrong, had I made her get poked with a needle and blood drawn for no reason, but I told her, “I love you and this is the safest thing we can do to make sure you do or don’t have this, so you won’t get sick.”

If I had been wrong, I would have apologized.

I’m always wrong.

About the only time I am wrong is if I get the facts confused or I am impulsive. That’s not to say I am right all the time, but I do like to research things very thoroughly before coming to a set opinion. I do find it excessively annoying when someone tells me I am wrong about something I happen to know very well, like during the recent cricumcision question. If you don’t agree with me, fine, but if you are going to call me wrong, well, you better be ready to defend yourself, as dem’s fightin’ werds, varmint! =)

I’m often right about the things I wanted to be wrong about. Vice versa doesn’t happen often.

’I have done that says my memory…i cannot have done that says my pride…and remains adamant…finally memory yields…’ freddy nietzsche

@mammal Lurve to you for the excellent quote.

I’m thinking that right now….“What if I am wrong about how he feels about me? What if I am wrong about his character? What if I am wrong about everything?......Then what?”

@rowenaz Wonderful job of being a good health advocate for your child and of listening to your inner voice!

All the time! It’s my worst habit. It strikes me that the people who invest their confidence in something regardless of how right or wrong it is, and then follow up on whatever happens next, tend to come out tops. Confidence!

I don’t know if I think “what am I wrong” so much as “what if other people don’t agree with me.” I guess I always believe in my own opinion, but I know that others usually don’t agree with me. Sometimes I also think “what if I can’t figure it out.” But I do that less, because I know most people are muddling through life, and that most mistakes are things that I can recover from. I.e., they won’t destroy the rest of my life.

As I say, I always believe in my own ideas. Generally, though, I don’t believe that people will agree with me. It’s that belief that stops me from trying things. Actually, it’s not quite as bad as that. I believe that if I work hard enough at most things affecting my personal life, I’ll be able to be at least partially successful. I’m just not sure I want to put in the work required.

As far as things affecting the community or the world, I don’t think I’ll ever have much impact. Hard work won’t make a difference there. It’ll just be more banging my head against the wall. I really don’t believe that very many people agree with me on most of the things I think—or if they do, then they are just as weird as I am, so it won’t really affect things in a more political context.

Sure I do. But, I will never tell.

“What if I’m wrong” is actually one of the most important principles for researching scientists, but this also applies to “What if you’re wrong”. Introspection and healthy debates lead to progress.