What is wrong in being wrong?

What is wrong in being wrong? Why are we obsessed with being right always? Why accepting being wrong does not come easily to most?

Obsession with being right….

Right from the Kindergarten days it is ingrained in our mind that being wrong is not acceptable. Teachers /parents do not accept the kids making even minor mistakes; every mistake gets the child a zero.

The kids who make mistakes are made fun of or at times even humiliated by teachers/ parents or peers. They are addressed as dumb or even stupid. Every parent expects the child to be truthful but most fail to create a conducive environment at home for that. This results in most of us growing up with a rigid mindset that being right always is the only way to succeed in life.

The tendency to prove oneself right is prevalent across all age groups, relations, and professions. Most people are reluctant to admit making a mistake or doing a wrong. We are ready to go to any accept to hide our mistakes or prove that ‘I am right’. We get into arguments, lie or even sour relations to prove ourselves right. Even spouses get into heated discussions to prove themselves right.

Our national obsession with being right can be seen during political debates on TV. I am yet to see any political leader accepting his/ her party/ leadership ever did everything wrong though general population continues to suffer.

What will happen if we accept our mistake?

Firstly, it will reduce the tension from our lives and help us in living a happier life. Secondly, it will help in early rectification of the mistake. Truthful reporting of the mistake will also help others in learning relevant lessons from it and may prevent such occurrences in future. Unfortunately, in most places’ mistakes are not accepted hence not reported. Accepting mistakes as normal will encourage people to work with a free mind in a tension free environment. This will lead to better results.

Our evaluation systems are such that a mistake whether truthfully reported or found otherwise invariably leads to negative outcome. People, hence, prefer to be smart than to be truthful. The pressure of being right takes toll of the human mind. The stress levels are increasing but we refuse to learn lessons. Most prefer to rather create a story than simply accepting a mistake.

Conclusion….

We all know that only thing about being wrong is not accepting being wrong. The day making a mistake get accepted as being ‘normal’ most things will get sorted out and life will get much simpler. Most mistakes happen due to circumstances beyond the control of the human mind. No one wants to commit a mistake intentionally they occur generally due to lack of awareness/ knowledge or due to availability of wrong information. No human can possibly be master of everything.

The aim should be to punish the intent and not a ‘genuine mistake’. An intentional negligence deserves to be punished. But an error resulting during the pursuit of a new discovery should be accepted.