Is it ever possible for someone to be wrong?

[Ben_Sinner]

I was thinking about this tonight.

Ultimately we are the final judgement on what is considered ‘true’ or ‘false’.

I don’t mean that in a relativist way or that there is no objective truth or higher power. I mean to say that the only perspective we have is our own.

Even if we believe something to be true and later find out that the belief was wrong. Is it still possible to be wrong?

For example, I believe with certainty that the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl. It turns out they lost the Super Bowl. Then I think “I was wrong”.

But isn’t a thought like “I was wrong” a true thought?

Or maybe I think to myself “I don’t know the answer to that”.

Wouldn’t “I don’t know the answer to that” also be a true thought?

So is there anyway we can know for sure that we can be wrong in our judgments?

 

[Mintaka]

Whether or not I believe in gravity, gravity still exists.

If I think it doesn’t exist, no matter how sincere I am, I am still wrong.

Any opinion that is false-to-facts is wrong.

And yes, it is a true thought to think “Why, gosh, gravity still works, so I was definitely wrong about it not existing.”

Being able to identify times when our opinion is false-to-facts is a pretty basic thought capability, and it’s critical to the survival of both humans and animals. We are constantly correcting our perceptions against facts. We are constantly having to update ourselves as situations change and things move.

 

[Karen107]

I believe as a Catholic, we have to understand that there is so much history and people behind us that we could not even fathom knowing more than those who went before us studying and praying about these things of our faith… So we follow that path towards learning the truths of our Catholic religion so it’s about trusting that we are on the path we are on and seeing where it’s going…

I suppose we can ponder things along the way, but I believe that too much doubt can get in the way of learning and experiencing things like healing so it all comes down to a choice at some point…So far I haven’t been disappointed…Someone said it like this: think about doubt as birds circling our heads making a nest at some point the nest can get so big it gets molded into our hair and it is hard to remove… I think that’s how she said it anyway… .the point being, if we seriously doubt everything we’ll never find our way to the truth and we’ll just be stagnant… Some doubt is okay but doubting everything gets in the way of having new things revealed to us.

It’s interesting what Pope Frances said about doubt.

If one has the answers to all the questions - that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble. Pope Francis

 

[mjs2001]

For example, I believe with certainty that the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl. It turns out they lost the Super Bowl. Then I think “I was wrong”.

But isn’t a thought like “I was wrong” a true thought?

So is there anyway we can know for sure that we can be wrong in our judgments?

I’m looking forward to reading the answers from the many philosophers we have on CAF. Didn’t Descartes already go through this line of thought? I guess that the answer is “no” because you could be crazy and hallucinating. Except, perhaps, there is one thing that you can be certain of–that you exist in some form.

 

[Aloysium]

I was wrong once, but I could be wrong about that.
So, I was wrong at least once.

 

[brian_custer]

I was thinking about this tonight.

Ultimately we are the final judgement on what is considered ‘true’ or ‘false’.

I don’t mean that in a relativist way or that there is no objective truth or higher power. I mean to say that the only perspective we have is our own.

Even if we believe something to be true and later find out that the belief was wrong. Is it still possible to be wrong?

For example, I believe with certainty that the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl. It turns out they lost the Super Bowl. Then I think “I was wrong”.

But isn’t a thought like “I was wrong” a true thought?

Or maybe I think to myself “I don’t know the answer to that”.

Wouldn’t “I don’t know the answer to that” also be a true thought?

So is there anyway we can know for sure that we can be wrong in our judgments?

get some sleep; you are over-thinking things

i wish i had time to dwell on nonsense like this

 

[Bahman]

I was thinking about this tonight.

Ultimately we are the final judgement on what is considered ‘true’ or ‘false’.

I don’t mean that in a relativist way or that there is no objective truth or higher power. I mean to say that the only perspective we have is our own.

Even if we believe something to be true and later find out that the belief was wrong. Is it still possible to be wrong?

For example, I believe with certainty that the Seahawks will win the Super Bowl. It turns out they lost the Super Bowl. Then I think “I was wrong”.

But isn’t a thought like “I was wrong” a true thought?

Or maybe I think to myself “I don’t know the answer to that”.

Wouldn’t “I don’t know the answer to that” also be a true thought?

So is there anyway we can know for sure that we can be wrong in our judgments?

How you could be right in the place of divine justice and have all these doubts? It is a good starting since doubt is the door toward divine justice.