Mar 14, 2008
It’s not arrogant to believe you’re right—that’s what believing is.
Everyone always thinks they’re right.
The moment we discover we’re wrong, we’ve already changed our mind, and we think we’re right again.
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You are right. But there’s an arrogant way of thinking one is right and a humble way.
That’s right. I have thought this for some time. If I thought I were wrong about something but chose to believe it anyway, that should make me a lunatic. This is typically met with puzzled looks for some reason…but after all, I think I’m always right.
haha…this struck me as funny for some reason. probably because i’m arrogant.
Perhaps everyone has read this Chesterton quote, but I’ll post it anyway. Seems relevant.
“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.”
Josh, I think the difference between arrogance and humility is the difference between always thinking you’re right and thinking you’re always right.
Danielle, not to deep below the surface of my motivation to blog is the desire to amuse you. So I’m happy found it funny.
Abraham, I think your words to Josh hold some validity. When I posted above I had immediatley wished that I reversed that order. Seems to fit Chesterton’s quote from Rob. Of course it is probably more fitting the way I worded it because I am arrogant…at least that’s what I think…I might not be right…
Uh oh. Another Rob.
I laughed out loud when I read that. Too true. The way of a man is right in his own eyes.
Arrogance has nothing to do with belief. Arrogance cannot exist as an abstract. It is something which tangibly comes out in words of self importance or of vitriol and spite towards the opposition. To believe one’s opinions are correct is the ONLY reason for belief.
Frankly, I find relativism (“It doesn’t matter what our views are, they’re all the same”) to be an extremely arrogant worldview.
Sam, I like your thought.
Someone has taken the time to come to a well-formed opinion on something. Telling that person that all views are the same is nothing short of arrogance.
And of course, I do believe that I’m right in saying that.
[...] Piper shares 22 words about believing you’re right. “Everyone always thinks they’re right. The moment we discover we’re wrong, [...]
So if a man thinks he is wrong, and thinks he is right about himself being wrong, he is right, but then he is wrong for being right which is what he was in the first place. Right? (I have a headache now)
You can see why I never did well with philosophy. Drat. Great blog, glad I just learned about it. Love Desiring God too. Great work. (Comments are aloud to be more than 22 words, right?)
So true. Could someone please tell this to Karla? :)
The difference between arrogance and humility to me is an attitude. Arrogance thinks it is always right and rarely listens to other viewpoints without disdain. Arrogance isn’t open to correction.
Humility disagrees respectfully but is open to dialogue and correction, knowing we have often been wrong in the past, and will also be wrong in the future.
Isn’t there such a thing as degrees of certainty? What about simply saying “I’m not sure, but this is my best guess (or what I choose to believe)”?
I don’t think I’m right. I hope I’m right, but always keep myself open to the very real possibility that I could be wrong.
Mike, I definitely think that’s a good attitude to have in many situations.
I think there are degrees of certainty, but that they most often fit within thinking you’re right. I can think I’m right and still “always keep myself open to the very real possibility that I could be wrong.”
Also, I’m not mainly saying how things should be, but how I think they actually are. In practice, people do think they are right all the time.
Humility is, as you suggest, being open to change.
My point is that when you humbly change, you’re back to thinking you’re right again. And that’s OK.
I can simultaneously say that I think I’m right about each of my beliefs individually (That’s what believing means, after all) and say that I’m quite certain there are things that I’m wrong about.
I agree Abraham. Or as my friend Brian McLaren puts it, “I’m pretty sure that I’m wrong about at least a third of what I believe. The problem is I just don’t know which third.”
I have been discovering lately that people confuse being correct with belief. Belief and accuracy are unrelated. In fact they are polar opposites. You can’t believe something you know. Once you know it, you can no longer believe it because it has traversed the void from belief to knowledge. If it’s OK to quote teh Bible, “Faith [I read Belief] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” That is to say, belief is linked to hope and lack of direct observation. Once information is acquired and observation made, what exists is no longer a belief, but a known fact. The memory of a fact is an excercise of the mind, while the holding to of a belief is an exercise of the heart.
Arrogance VS Humility VS Confidence
I suspect Arrogance is a function of projection and perception rather than a defineable state of being.
One definition of humility I have heard is “Accepting oneself for what one truly is”. If your really THAT good then … but that person may or may not be perceived as arrogant even if they truly are amazingly good at _____.
Confidence, my personal opinion, is not a function of projection or perception at all, but a rating of one’s tendency to hesitate or second guess. Someone who thinks slowly and methodically before doing something would be incofident in their action by any definition, even though the end result may or may not be perfect.
Someone well experienced in the matter at hand, or someone that acts first and analyzes the result rather than the process would be acting in confidence, despite the quality of the end result.