Below you'll find the talking points we'll use at the coming Meetup to get a discussion going. If 'Being Wrong' got you thinking, feel free to react to any of these questions, or add your own.
BOOKCLUB QUESTIONS * Why do you think we’re so enamoured with being right? * Schulz writes: “[M]uch of psychoanalytic theory is based on the belief that our earliest interactions with a tiny number of people permanently shape our theories about who we are, what other people are like, and what kind of treatment we can expect to receive throughout our lives” (pg 120) If we are conditioned from birth to believe certain things, is it actually possible to change our minds fundamentally at all? * The story of C.P. Ellison, the KKK Grand Cyclops turned civil rights activist, is very inspiring. But in her notes, Schulz also tells the story of U.S. senator Thomas E. Watson, “who was born in 1856 and spent the early part of his career opposing racial injustice, supporting rights for Afro-American men (...). By the end of his life, Watson had become a white supremacist who railed against blacks, Jews, and Catholics, and was much admired by the KKK.” (pg 284 footnote) It would seem that it’s always possible for us to change our mind, even for the worse. How does that make you feel about your own political convictions and ethical beliefs? * ‘I went to a Trump rally in my hijab’ - How far do you/would you go to understand the beliefs and convictions of someone who holds a radically different world view? * What do you think Schulz is getting at with the title of her last chapter, ‘The Optimistic Meta-Induction from the History of Everything’? * Which of your fabulations would get you featured on the cover of ‘Modern Jackass’? * Can you and I be certain we won’t end up on the wrong side of history? Could we already be there? * Schulz: “This need to be right about ourselves - past, present, and future - is what drives our yearning for perfect self-knowledge. And it also drives our yearning for something else: perfect self-consistency. As with complete self-knowledge, we know, in theory, that an unchanging self is not part of the bargain of being human.” - How comfortable are you with the idea that even your most fundamental convictions and characteristics are in flux? * Of course, if you have any interesting questions or talking points, we'd love to hear them!
BOOKCLUB QUESTIONS
* Why do you think we’re so enamoured with being right?
* Schulz writes: “[M]uch of psychoanalytic theory is based on the belief that our earliest interactions with a tiny number of people permanently shape our theories about who we are, what other people are like, and what kind of treatment we can expect to receive throughout our lives” (pg 120) If we are conditioned from birth to believe certain things, is it actually possible to change our minds fundamentally at all?
* The story of C.P. Ellison, the KKK Grand Cyclops turned civil rights activist, is very inspiring. But in her notes, Schulz also tells the story of U.S. senator Thomas E. Watson, “who was born in 1856 and spent the early part of his career opposing racial injustice, supporting rights for Afro-American men (...). By the end of his life, Watson had become a white supremacist who railed against blacks, Jews, and Catholics, and was much admired by the KKK.” (pg 284 footnote) It would seem that it’s always possible for us to change our mind, even for the worse. How does that make you feel about your own political convictions and ethical beliefs?
* ‘I went to a Trump rally in my hijab’ - How far do you/would you go to understand the beliefs and convictions of someone who holds a radically different world view?
* What do you think Schulz is getting at with the title of her last chapter, ‘The Optimistic Meta-Induction from the History of Everything’?
* Which of your fabulations would get you featured on the cover of ‘Modern Jackass’?
* Can you and I be certain we won’t end up on the wrong side of history? Could we already be there?
* Schulz: “This need to be right about ourselves - past, present, and future - is what drives our yearning for perfect self-knowledge. And it also drives our yearning for something else: perfect self-consistency. As with complete self-knowledge, we know, in theory, that an unchanging self is not part of the bargain of being human.” - How comfortable are you with the idea that even your most fundamental convictions and characteristics are in flux?
* Of course, if you have any interesting questions or talking points, we'd love to hear them!