Being Wrong Summary

I can candidly say that Wrongology by Kathryn Schulz is an enlightening read. The author puts forward her case for wrongology – a complicated subject throwing light upon all facets of being wrong and at fault. Her foundation being that people have been wrong about being wrong to start with. It’s no doubt delightful to be right, it uplifts our ego and that in a way is crucial for our survival. Seemingly according to Kathryn Schulz even though being wrong may be embarrassing it is critical for our personal development. Error is a part of human nature and cannot be terminated. If our choices are wrong, what we have to do is to review those choices and learn from them, eventually making better ones. Therefore one should not be afraid of making a mistake or being wrong. Mistakes help us revise our understandings and help us

Coming from the point where humans were created in God’s image, it follows that they have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. From the rules of conduct given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to the Ten Commandments given to the Israelites, we see that God throughout history has prescribed what is considered right and what is wrong. Jesus summarized these commandments as loving God and loving our neighbors in Matthew 22:37- 40. Similarly, the fact that we were created in God’s image means that we have an inner ability to know what is wrong and right – conscience (Romans 2:15).

In Roger Von Oech’s “To Err Is Wrong”, he argues that being wrong is not necessarily a wrong thing and that having errors may lead to success. He explains that many see “success and failure as opposites”(2), however Oech states that “they are actually both products of the same process”(2). As he focuses in success and failure, he supports the idea that if someone makes errors, it gives them the opportunity to explore more ideas and improve their results. Oech also suggests that people are used to the idea that failing is bad and many prefer not to risk making any mistakes or failing and that they just take the easy way out. He also brings up the idea that succeeding and failing are a part of daily life because everyone tries not to make any

Many college students find themselves struggling, while trying to write papers in their English classes. This book was written to help you though these struggles. They say/I say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein is a book that was designed to help students be better writers. I think that this book is absolutely a huge help to anyone in need of becoming a much more confident and better writer. This book has helped me learn how to write more structured sentences and how to form them in ways that sound better and are also more grammatically correct than before. I have learned how to properly demonstrate and use many writing techniques such as making quotations, playing the believing game, how to write strong summaries, how to plant a “naysayer”, and incorporate “so what?” and “who cares?” into my writing. This book can be extremely helpful to anyone in need of assistance or for people interested in

Nobody wants to be wrong. It is associated with “shame, stupidity, ignorance, indolence, psychopathology, and moral degeneracy” (Schulz). Also, as people, we revel in other’s wrongness as much as we do our own accuracy, which has created an environment in which being wrong is unnerving to the point of a possible, legitimate fear. But not only is

Mistake; to make a wrong judgment, an action or decision that is wrong or produces a result that is not correct or not intended. When we were young our parents always told us, “it takes a big person to admit their mistakes”. Contrary to this popular statement, what if you never actually made a mistake in the first place and fate was at fault for your failure? In his novel “The Outliers”, Gladwell claims that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” (Gladwell 151). However, I disagree with this statement because success is rare and no matter how hard you work, you may never change the world around you. No matter how hard you work, there will be people that drag you down, circumstances you face, obstacles that stand in your way, and a world that will refuse to change for you.

What is considered to be an error can be altered to enact a form of control while simultaneously remaining a matter of opinion. An example of how changing what is considered error can be used as a form of control, can be found in this quote from Lu & Horner. “Error in writing is something that is just a matter of opinion-something that teachers can and sometimes do use to attack students by “changing the rules” for what counts as error and when”(Lu & Horner, 190). This quote shows that not only do a lot of people believe that error is something that is simply “wrong”, but just as many people have the similar belief that error is just a matter of opinion. Lu & Horner also explain that people can take advantage of the fact that not everyone understands or believes that error can be seen as a matter of opinion, to gain control. Similar to the example of teachers changing the rules of what counts as error, Trask talks about how a difference in opinion lead to the colonist control of Hawaii. Trask explains the means by which colonists gained control saying, “By a kind of perverted logic, [colonialism] turns to the past of the oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures, and destroys it”(Trask 395). Just as teachers can “change the rules”, Trask shows how differently opinionated people can decide what is error to satisfy their needs.

King first touches on the topic of in vitro fertilization and the opportunities it offers for couples who cannot conceive naturally. She goes on to discuss the topic of research on the human embryos that does not get implanted into the woman’s body. Research is being

right and wrong share a very thin line. The right decision for some might be wrong for others and vice

There are two prominent distortions of the episodic memory system: forgetting and the false memory effect. False memory is the propensity to report an event as part of an episodic experience that was not actually present (Holliday, Brainerd, & Reyna, 2011). Several theories give an explanation for this effect, but the most prominent one is the fuzzy trace theory,

Memory does not work like a video camera, smoothly recording every detail. Instead, memory is more of a constructive process. We remember the details that we find most important and relevant. Due to the reconstructive nature of memory, the assimilation of old and new information has the ability to cause vulnerable memories to become distorted. This is also known as the misinformation effect (Loftus, 1997). It is not uncommon for individuals to fill in memory gaps with what they assume they must have experienced. We not only distort memories for events that we have observed, but, we may also have false memories for events that never occurred at all. False memories are “often created by combing actual memories with suggestions received from

Knowing between right and wrong is a good foundation to practicing good ethics and morals. In today's world, individuals can make a single decision that can have an extreme positive or negative effect on their family, their employer, a nation, and even on the entire world. The life we lead reflects the strength of our character. For example, if we choose to steal, instead of earning it that makes one of weak character or morals. Like in The Pardoner’s Tale from Chaucer, “ greed is the root of all evil.” Ethics are different for each person, but for the most part, people want to be known as a good person. One wants to be known as someone who can be trusted, and one is concerned about his or her relationships

I see right and wrong as a choice made by a person, let me say a boy for instance. He has a conscience and he knows what he is doing is very bad. He can deceive everybody, and make people think he is a good person, but deep inside of him he knows very well that what he is doing is not right. As the old saying ?what goes up must come down? there is an end to every thing, no matter how long it

What might me a mistake to someone might be right for another person. But, mistakes do help a person distinguish between right and wrong. A mistake informs a person of what is accepted by the society. Mistakes are said to be the best teacher. When a person goes wrong while doing something, it stays in his mind forever. He doesn’t easily forget it and avoids repeating such mistakes. Mistakes are also indicators of risk involved. They inform us about what can possibly go wrong if a certain plan is carried out. They are similar to test points which check whether a particular procedure or step suits the task or the outcome that is

He also says we attempt to look for a beneficial quality in the confusion, yet essentially it is just plain disorder and bewilderment (Amison 2012: http://www.rogerballen.com/articles/the-descent-into-the-asylum)