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Being wrong is awful. Double plus ungood as they would say in 1984 ‘newspeak.’ And yet, as the saying goes ‘to err is human…” as Alexander Pope put it. Or as a later wag said “to err is human, to really screw things up requires a computer” (Most likely Bill Vaughan according to Quote Investigator)
My own approach to owning up to a mistake is taken from Nero Wolfe, written by Rex Stout, and I say, with as much superciliousness as I can muster “I love to make a mistake. It is my only assurance that I cannot reasonably be expected to assume the responsibility of omniscience.”
I love to make a mistake. It is my only assurance that I cannot reasonably be expected to assume the responsibility of omniscience.
This is more relevant than usual as Tucker Carlson recently admitted his approached to ‘lying on television when trapped in a corner.’ I equate this to being caught in being wrong and rather than admitting the error or mistake trying to bluff one’s way out by lying.
I find this among the left wing as well. I watched two Ring of Fire videos recently, and in one video Farron Cousins say “this completely destroys Russia Gate” and then in a later video say, when evidence showed that there were charges against Republican operatives for…
