Making It OK to Be Wrong
For others to learn how to admit error, you need to create a safe environment.
Posted February 22, 2025 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley
I have been afforded many privileges. Some are obvious. As a white male in America, I try to remember that many don’t have what I take for granted. Others are less obvious. As a tenured university professor, I am afforded intellectual freedom and professional security many can’t imagine.
One privilege is the benefit of working with young, intelligent people every day. It’s a hackneyed sentiment to say that I learn from my students more than they learn from me, but I try to live that truth. A recent experience has made me more aware of this privilege than ever.
Teaching Critical Thinking
I am an avid consumer of podcasts, which years ago introduced me to scientific skepticism. Programs like "The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe" were my entry into a movement of scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and consumer education . I proposed a course in critical thinking and skepticism, which I’ve been teaching for over a decade and now draws more than 200 students a year.
The course is built on the neurological, psychological, and cultural causes behind fallibility—basically, “Why do smart people often believe such strange (and wrong) things?”
People really don’t like to admit to being wrong. Some will risk calamity rather than acknowledge error, especially if their identity is built around whatever it is they are wrong about. Presented with evidence rebutting a belief, many will end up believing even more strongly. We had to invent the scientific method so people would have a safe environment in which they could be wrong.
I try to end the course on the same note. If there is one takeaway from the class, it is that it is OK to be wrong. Being wrong should be embraced. Error is the first step to knowledge. The class gets good reviews and high enrollment, but I wonder if it is changing any minds. Few take a class on skepticism who weren’t already skeptical. But I recently had an experience that validated the course’s approach and illustrated strategies to help people embrace fallibility.
The course ends with an open-ended project. Students can submit anything, so long as it is educational, relevant to the course, and creative. I’ve gotten everything from conventional slideshows to original art, from one-act plays to rap songs. This past semester two students submitted video essays of how the course had affected their thinking. They could not have been more different. One, “Jane” (not her name), was a liberal woman of color. The other, “John” (same), was a conservative white male. And both eloquently said how the course led them to question core beliefs. Jane thought she had psychic powers and could read minds. But after the course, she realized that, while she was a keen observer, her “powers” were due to confirmation bias . John bought into several conspiracy theories. But he admitted that, despite our political disagreements, he realized he’d been bamboozled by propaganda.
Getting one such response would have been enlightening, but getting two, from different ends of the political spectrum, was revelatory. These responses suggest that the core goals of the course, to empower people to rationally question their own beliefs and those of others, are being fulfilled. Every educator has at some point thought, “Am I making a difference?” Those rare occasions where we see that we do are cherished. But more significantly, this allowed me to consider the question: What is it about the course’s approach that lets it be successful? A few possibilities:
And you don’t have to be a professor or take a course to use these tools. Anyone can use these to change minds, one mind at a time.
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Sean M. Rafferty, Ph.D., is an anthropologist at the University at Albany who focuses on scientific skepticism and the pre-Contact archaeology of North America.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.