Being Wrong

Have you ever been told that "you always have to be right"?
Or
Have you ever told someone else they always have to be right?

Try this:
It's right to be wrong, and wrong to be right.

What is "being right"?

For students like us, it means knowing the truth - memorizing facts.
Facts are provable – Knowledge is provable.
And knowledge comes from a source: a textbook (written by people), a teacher (a person), The History/Discovery channel (more people) – and experience (you).

The first problem with knowledge is that it is documented by humans.
Humans make mistakes, forget, lie, embellish, and destroy.
In 2007 - we just do the best we can to figure it all out.

The second problem with facts, and the point of this e-mail, is that facts are knowledge from the past. The past could be 2,000 years ago, or 2 seconds. The people who remember could number in the millions, or one person. The world that is changed could be a small town – or the whole of the earth.

Knowledge is – extremely – important…..when it comes to:
-Remembering what came before us, so we don’t make the same mistakes
-Giving honor to people who changed the world – and how they changed it
-To give us a sense of perspective
-Realizing “what came before”
-To give life a purpose. Who cares what you do, if no one will remember it? If nothing will be changed by it?

However: Knowledge is the opposite of originality. Experience is the opposite of creativity.

Originality and Creativity – not [only] in the context of arts, but in everything - they are what fuel great change. Everyone knows that – but they know because a book said so – not because they lived it.

And when we rely on knowledge alone: we are stuck.
No innovation – good or bad – can come ONLY from knowledge.

School is about soaking up facts – and spitting them out.
Good student, average, or bad – it depends on A) how much you soak up and B) how much you care. That’s the secret – that’s it.

So what’s wrong with being right?
Being right means you are stuck.
Being right means you go on what you know – what you’ve been told, what you’ve read, and what you’ve done before.
This works in school.
This fails miserably in life.

What to do? BE WRONG.
Naturally, no one wants to be wrong. No one wants to be the person who has stupid ideas. No one wants to go through the trouble of being Original and Creative when other people will stop and stare, roll their eyes, ignore you, or laugh. Being wrong is a risk.

You can look at this risk in two ways:
- Risks are a measure of people. Those who don’t take risks, or mock other people’s risks, are relying on knowledge. They are trying to preserve what they are – they do not want change. Or maybe they are just afraid of it.
- Not all risks are good ones – but being WRONG has more POSSIBILITIES than being RIGHT. Being right is living in the past, being wrong is neither the past nor the future – it’s just a possibility. A really great wrong thing becomes right.

In the end, if you really believe in something, stand by it.

Taking the risk is not enough. After they mock you or ignore you – that is when you need to stand your ground. LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE SERIOUS. This is not a joke; you are not just being a smart-ass. If you want it done – do it yourself.

BE WRONG.