We're terrified of not having the answers, and we would sometimes rather assert an incorrect answer than make our peace with the fact that we really don't know.
Interpretation
This quote highlights our fear of uncertainty and the tendency to cling to wrong answers for comfort.
Kathryn Schulz's quote underscores the human tendency to fear the unknown and uncertainty. It suggests that rather than accepting our ignorance on certain subjects, we often prefer to hold on to incorrect information because it provides a sense of security. This speaks to a deeper psychological struggle where not having definite answers can make us anxious, prompting us to fill that void with false confidence rather than confronting the uncomfortable truth of not knowing.
In practice
In a discussion about science and discovery, this quote can illustrate the importance of acknowledging our limits.
As a kid, I lived almost entirely inside books, and eventually the books started returning the favor. A lot of my internal world feels like an anthology, or a library. It's eclectic and disorganized, but I can browse in it, and that hugely shapes both what and how I write.
The point isnβt to live without any regrets. The point is to not hate ourselves for having them.
Our love of being right is best understood as our fear of being wrong
To err is to wander, and wandering is the way we discover the world; and, lost in thought, it is also the way we discover ourselves. Being right might be gratifying, but in the end it is static, a mere statement. Being wrong is hard and humbling, and sometimes even dangerous, but in the end it is a journey, and a story.
Regret doesn't remind us that we did badly. It reminds us that we know we can do better.
There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do in a pressure situation is to allow the tension to persist. The temptation is to make a decision, any decision, even if it is an inferior choice.
Intellect does not attain its full force unless it attacks power.
Grace works that way. It's a kind word from a gentle person with an impossible prayer. It's a force sometimes transmitted best hand to hand in a dark place.
I understand aggressiveness in only one way: being prepared to hurt yourself, not someone else.
People have more freedom to bring more of their personal qualities into the role they play once they have established themselves and their competence is no longer in question. But this is always within limits.
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