Be Right, But Not Righteous

“I’d rather learn than be right.” Or maybe it should be, “I’d rather learn than be righteous.”

If you need to be right, you’ll spend all of your time trying to prove you’re right and everything else is wrong.

It can be exhausting.

But, the alternative is to try to be right, all while holding on loosely in case you’re wrong (extra 38 Special).

When we’re right but not righteous, we have the confidence in our view, but we’re also keeping the outcome above our ego.

Or, as Van Zant might have sang had they gone the self-help author/philosopher route, “Hold on loosely / but don’t ego.”

h/t Diana Chapman’s interview on The Knowledge Project, episode #130https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/diana-chapman/