Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

by Kathryn Schulz

For that, we’re better off taking some not-very-mannerly advice from a not-very-mannerly source: the magician and comedian Penn Jillette, who would have appalled the genteel Post, and who once dismissed most conventional etiquette as “bullshit” on his TV show of that name. In an interview for AskMen.com, Jillette attacked the notion that “shutting up about what you believe is showing tolerance to other people.” On the contrary, he said, “I believe shutting up about what you believe is a way to stay close-minded, a way not to be busted. If you have some crazy thought and keep it in your head, there is much less chance that someone will say, ‘what are you, fucking nuts?’” In other words, he argued, “One of the quickest ways to find out if you are wrong is to state what you believe.”