When to Admit You're Wrong
We all have been in that situation when you are providing information against someones opinion, that was just verbally given, and then you get an emotional reaction as if you weren't suppose to comment on the “information” that they let exit from their mouth. If you are not up for having your thoughts challenged, then I would like to recommend something; maybe you should get the facts before you decide to confidently bring something in a debate, you obviously know nothing about, and are just spewing rhetoric you heard on a YouTube, Instagram, tiktok, or any other social media post. Reading a headline as you're scrolling through social media is not how you become knowledgeable on a subject. Attaining factual information can be difficult, especially when you don’t know how to do it, or if your “factual” information is completely bias and you have a lack of awareness to understand that. There are many ways to seek out factual information.
One of the most current situations I see people in, in which they are completely correct on a subject , is when they are asking someone to wear a mask, or to wear it properly. I have watched countless videos, and read countless social media comments which lead to a hostile reaction from the person being asked to do something correctly. If you are at a job and your boss scolds you for not doing something right, that you are obviously doing
wrong ,do you react with hostility, or do you learn from your mistake? Now, some will react poorly, and this goes into the psychology of the individual, and why they react poorly when confronted, which will be brought up later in this article. Not wearing a mask properly, specifically under your nose, increases the odds of getting other sick, exponentially, according to a new study. Factual information is readily available on how to wear a mask properly, and most of us were taught basic biology on viruses, so there shouldn’t be such a combative response to wearing them. If you are one of the people not wearing a mask properly, and are asked to wear it properly, they are not at fault for your inability to take criticism, they do not get you angry, only you are responsible for how you respond.
In regards to the psychology behind this, humans tend to not like to be wrong, and like Freud found out, in the early days of psychology, it hurts your ego, and since your brain doesn't want you to feel stupid, you react poorly, or wont admit you're wrong, thus leading to arguments and hostility. Your emotional response is not because of someone else, no matter how much you want to blame them. Your emotional responses are based on your perception, i.e., when someone says “stop with the guilt trip”, they aren't realizing that they are responsible for feel guilty, not the persons words. Anyone can try to make you react a certain way, but you are the one who gets to choose how to react.
Discussion brings change, but social media has changed the dynamic of conversing, specifically Facebook, whose algorithm learns what you like and search, and only shows you things that pertain to your views, keeping you in an echo-chamber; so when you venture outside of this echo-chamber, and aren't used to being wrong, for an extended period of time, of course you are going to react poorly. Social media has completely changed how we share information, and a study confirms that most people share articles only based on the headline. Now-a-days Americans are, mainly, getting their their news from social media, and a lot of the “news” that gets shared isn't accurate or factual. Facebook and other platforms are trying to prevent the spread of misinformation, but the damage is already done.
With all of this said, if you are being given factual information, that contradicts your view, after you have brought it up in conversation, and there isn’t malicious intent by the responder to get arise out of you, then there is absolutely no reason for you to get hostile, especially when you are in the wrong. Scolding someone else because you’re ego is hurt, doesn’t mean the other person is wrong, in any way, and for some reason this has gotten lost overtime, and people think that reacting with hostility, when proven wrong, is an acceptable response. Where this mindset came from that you get to express your views, but no one can respond or ask for evidence, is beyond me, but that’s not how a conversation works. If you don’t want people responding to your views, then don’t start a conversation, its that simple. No one should have to deal with your inability to take others opinions. Academia welcomes conversation, but somewhere along the way, it got lost among society, and hopefully one day it will find its way back, so until then, remember, your views can be challenged, and will be challenged and if you cant take that then there is no need to converse until you're ready to stop being immature.
