The Art of Being Wrong
The more we advance in society, the more access we gain to information. The ability to Google our every question instead of going to the library for school work, or to go a step even further, asking ChatGPT to do your assignment for you. I’m guilty of this as well. Even when writing these posts, I run them through a grammar checking AI because god-forbid I publish a typo. And don’t get me wrong, technology is amazing. Being able to fact-check political figures making arbitrary claims with no evidence, or save yourself from the disastrous mistake of using affect rather than effect--a real lifesaver in AP lit--is a privilege our parents didn’t even have. But have we gone too far?
I heard an opinion not too long ago, but still before the age of Google Gemini instantly answering questions you didn’t even know you had, that smartphones ruin “bar debates.” They said this like it was an art form that you just had to be there to understand. But they had a point. When debating with friends about meaningless topics--what happened at the end of How I Met Your Mother? When did The Wizard of OZ come out? How many hours is a flight to London?--the debate swiftly ends when someone brings out their phone and types it in. Although this isn’t a life-threatening issue that we no longer fight our friends over misinformation, it is definitely a culture shift. We are, in many cases, afraid of being wrong.
Another key factor of this shift is the influx of social media. Not wanting to post your opinion or thoughts for fear of being cancelled is holding us back from being ourselves. And those of us who don’t post and aimlessly scroll, anonymously calling people out, are perpetuating the narrative that everyone online must be perfect yet authentic, and always correct yet humble, and educated but not opinionated, unless it is the right opinion that we all agreed on without telling anyone. It is exhausting. A place of freedom and community building has become dog-piling and hateful.
So where do we go from here? We have found ourselves in the “Age of Information” surrounded by fake news, grammar police, and anonymous haters. And although there are plus sides to this era, many young people are choosing to unplug. Every time I go online, I see posts sharing tips to get your screen time down, or “giving up my phone for 30 days” type content. Those of us who grew up on the internet are tired of it. We’ve become overinvested in other people’s lives, we’ve overconsumed funny content and suffer dopamine withdrawals, and we’ve fallen down rabbit holes of hate, pitting us against each other for thinking a dress was white instead of blue.
Being “wrong” is how we learn. We know we learn best from our mistakes and that you have to just live and find out what’s best for you, but we don’t do it. At least I don’t. I’m scared of misstepping, of speaking out of turn, of not fitting in, of looking like an outsider. But there’s nothing “wrong” with any of that. We shouldn’t be expected to know everything, and for the most part, we aren’t. It’s our internal dialogue telling us we aren’t good enough or smart enough when we make a mistake. But if you're afraid to mess up, when will you live?
I’m challenging myself to do what I want and try new things, and the best way I've found to do this is by reaching out to people who know more than I do about the topic I'm trying. Have your friend who rock climbs take you climbing and listen to them give you tips. Have your classmate from a different cultural background tell you about their history, and listen to what they have to say. Don’t be afraid to mess up as long as you're doing it with good intent. No one expects you to be perfect on your first try; well, no one but you. This might sound like obvious advice when you're hearing it, but think about this the next time you're trying something. You are not stupid, or bad, or not enough. You are just starting! At any age, you can be new to something. It might be easier said than done, but give yourself the grace you give others. I learned that life is not a competition: we can all be good at things, we can all have fun, and we can all have a fulfilling life without putting each other down.
So next time you make a claim you're unsure of, instead of reaching for your phone, disclose that you don’t know. Maybe someone around you does. Maybe you can learn more and gain more from them than you would from an AI chatbot. Bring back social interaction, storytelling, and teaching each other with grace. We are never too old to stop learning. And we are never too old to be wrong.
