I was wrong about...

8 NYT opinion writers on recent issues they were wrong about. 

Good reminder for all of us about having some intellectual humility. 

EDIT, some from me:

I was wrong about how quickly the market and economy would recover from the 2020 Covid downturn (way quicker than 2008, which was my only point of comparison)

I was wrong about my career-always believed I'd start a business but ended up working for a fortune 500 in sales instead.

I was wrong about having a kid-never thought I would, but he's 3 now.

In the automotive world, I was wrong about: 

Kia/Hyundai. I thought they were junk. I now own a Kia that stickered at $41k. 

Diesel vs. Hybrid. Thought Diesel made more sense. I didn't understand that MPG != Emissions

Hybrids, and Priuses in particular. Probably the most influential and important vehicle of the last 50 years. 

In the rest of the world, I don't have time to even start. 

Of note:  we can see the titles, but the articles are behind a paywall.  I would ask you to summarize them but it would likely get too political.

There has been a trend in a few places to move away from some pretty obvious slants, but I think the damage is done.

It's super easy to loose trust and very hard to rebuild it.

My grandfather's line was always that he was wrong that one time he thought he made a mistake. 

aircooled said:

Of note:  we can see the titles, but the articles are behind a paywall.  I would ask you to summarize them but it would likely get too political.

Hmm-I should have 10 free articles to share per month so people should be able to see it. If anybody wants to read one just shoot me a DM and I'll share the link directly.

NYT opinion section is relatively varied. The link includes pieces from Brooks and Stephens (both conservative) as well as Krugman and Goldberg (liberal). 

I read recently in one of my books a reference about 'how it feels to be wrong' that is part of a TED talk. The speaker asks the audience to shout out how they feel when they are wrong. "embarrassed", "stupid", "shunned", etc come the responses. 

But then the speaker makes the point that those types of feelings come only AFTER you LEARN that you WERE WRONG. And then of course the point is that when you are wrong, you feel exactly the same as when you are right. And I thought that was a pretty enlightening way to think about it. 

(there's maybe also a secondary point about how we probably shouldn't teach ourselves to feel that subset of feelings when we just learned something new as well - we should embrace being wrong, because it is an important way we learn as humans)

I thought I'd be dead by 35. I'm currently 54. 

I never planned to get married or have kids. I've been married for 36 years and have 4 kids ranging from 34 to 18. 

I thought I'd never be glued to a desk. I spend 30+ hours a week at one now. 

20 years ago, I swore I would never buy another Nissan product. I currently have a G35 and Lemons race a B210. I did put a Chevy engine in the B210.

I thought BMWs were really nice cars. Owning one proved they aren't any better than any other brand and in some ways are much worse. 

I could probably go on for days but it would get old.

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Related to the point you raise, there's an article discussing aspects of learning by Kruger and Dunning that I've found quite enlightening.

Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

02Pilot said:

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Related to the point you raise, there's an article discussing aspects of learning by Kruger and Dunning that I've found quite enlightening.

Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

 

I like that one! I don't think I've read the study directly before, but I've come across the idea (probably a book that referenced the study). 

I thought if I worked hard, I'd get loyalty from my employers and they would value me.

I've been wrong about so many automotive things, it doesn't bear reflection. Much of that was misinformation passed down as truth from elders in the scene.

I was wrong about mental health issues being a weakness. That was also a cultural hand me down from the elders.




 

I was wrong about the darkness that would never end.

It did.

Appleseed said:

I was wrong about the darkness that would never end.

It did.

Attaboy!

Back in the day I was a jeep fanatic. I loved my yj wrangler. Jeep came out with the 4 door jk and I thought it was gonna tank so hard. I couldn't foresee anybody wanting one. Now four doors outnumber two doors about 10-1 from what I see on the streets. 

 I've been wrong so many times, I no longer believe anything I say. I question everything now because it's so easy to think you know, and so easy to be wrong.

At work I'll readily admit when I'm wrong - and it's been noticed because it came up in my last review, and I always make a point of telling the apprentice when he made the right call and I didn't.

It's taken me a long time to arrive there.

If you want some interesting reading, a google search like this is always entertaining

Now that I'm older, I realize how many things I was wrong about.  Or, more specifically, how many things I was uninformed about and based my thoughts on limited data.  It's funny how I see some of the things in my son's beliefs that I know I thought the same at his age, but with time, have changed my views. 

I also realized, after many, many years, that I needed to stop focusing on the things that make me angry or frustrated and try to focus on the good.  Not to stop caring, but also know that there is only so much that I can do and to let those things beyond my control simply wash over me.

I'm sure I'll still be wrong about many more things in the future.  I just hope to have the ability to admit it when I am wrong and learn from it instead of trying to always "win". 

-Rob

Probably the biggest, most generic way I used to be wrong was in sticking to my beliefs in spite of increasing evidence, which also manifests itself in being very defensive when I'm wrong.

Now, I have no idea what I'm wrong about, because, 1: I don't know I'm wrong and 2: I'm 62, and I don't hold nearly as many firm opinions about stuff that isn't in my wheelhouse.

I was wrong about iced coffee. It is both refreshing and delicious. It is also WAY too easy to drink so I don't except on rare occasions I need to slam two cups of coffee instantly and knock out a pile of work.

Thinking that I understood people. I now understand that you can't have a rational conversation with people who don't act rationally in the first place. 

........old people being old.

(now that I'm turning 60 years old I might be old, but I'm not old)

In reply to Toyman! :

You're 54 and have been married 36 years. When exactly was this "never planned to get married" part of your life?

In reply to Toyman! :

The hatchback b210s?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I was probably 16 at the time. You know how those 16 yo beliefs are. 

In reply to Antihero :

Yep. It's all kinds of special.

We did manage an IOE with it a couple of years ago. 

In reply to Toyman! :

That's awesome!

My mom had 2 growing up and I'd love another. I've also seen SBC swapped in and I really want to do that too lol

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Toyman! :

You're 54 and have been married 36 years. When exactly was this "never planned to get married" part of your life?

At least 36 years ago.