{"id":2769,"date":"2013-11-29T06:10:27","date_gmt":"2013-11-29T14:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=2769"},"modified":"2013-11-28T21:34:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-29T05:34:36","slug":"how-do-you-know-when-youre-wrong-about-something-youre-sure-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=2769","title":{"rendered":"Want some doubt with those fries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is why first impressions are often correct.
\nAlthough some people might have made mistakes.
\nThey may have arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them.
\nThey may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim, or momentary impulse.
\nSome may have gotten half-way there, and then changed their minds.
\nHe wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake
\n–Talking Heads\/Seen and Not Seen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What I always wonder about is how do people know when they’re right?<\/p>\n

As the founder of the Cult of Doubt, I’ve established that:
\n1. I am frequently wrong.
\n2. Because of #1, I question pretty much everything.
\n3. Sometimes I’m wrong precisely about the things I am most sure of.
\n4. Drinking out of a skull rocks.<\/p>\n

Setting aside my own inadequacies and doubts, mere observation shows us that a lot of people must be wrong about a lot of stuff. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n

1. A lot of people are totally OK with female circumcision. They think women need to be controlled sexually (oh, we have such wanton ways!) in order for society to function well. Other people think they are incorrect. Someone is wrong. Both sides are sure about it.
\n2. A lot of people think that believing in only their flavor of deity will get them into some sort of paradise. Virgins optional. They’re willing to kill each other over it. We’ve been killing each other for God for centuries. Someone is wrong.
\n3. In a lot of cultures, it is completely acceptable, even desirable, for a 30 year old man to marry a 13 year old girl. (See the cultural bias? Man vs girl?) in our society, it’s illegal.
\n4. Ditto for arranged marriage.
\n5. A lot of people are totally fine with legal and social discrimination based on race, religion, gender…you name it. Others are just as adamant that the others are completely wrong. <\/p>\n

So we have radically different social, religious and legal expectations and everyone involved is certain that their team is correct. People die to enforce their beliefs. They are willing to kill to defend their beliefs. <\/p>\n

How in the hell are they all so sure of themselves?
\nI’m serious–I don’t even know if my socks are really red like I think they are. I have no real clue who likes me and who doesn’t. I don’t know if you should drink red or white wine with bolognese sauce. I am full of self doubt and doubt about pretty much everything except my own golden rule<\/a>. My golden rule doesn’t hurt anyone, so I feel comfortable sticking with it. <\/p>\n

The fact that people are willing to blow me up because I am an atheist is a foreign concept to me. I can’t wrap my brain around it at all. Or people who want me to shut up because I have a vagina. I get that people might want me to shut up because I’m a pain in the ass. I mean, I know I am sometimes, but what does my womb have to do with it? <\/p>\n

Y’all were aware that I have a vagina, yes?
\nJust checking.<\/p>\n

No, I’m not going to show it to anyone. Maybe later. <\/p>\n

Like everything else, there has got to be a balance. People have got to be willing to see that there are other points of view, and that there is very seldom such a thing as absolute right and wrong. <\/p>\n

I spent a lot of my life seeing everything as black or white. <\/p>\n

Now, it’s almost all gray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is why first impressions are often correct. Although some people might have made mistakes. They may have arrived at an appearance that bears no relationship to them. They may have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim, or momentary impulse. Some may have gotten half-way there, and then changed their minds. He … Continue reading Want some doubt with those fries?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-IF","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":908,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=908","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":0},"title":"My level of faith is doubtful but optimistically realistic","author":"Michelle","date":"August 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Free your mind And the rest will follow --Free Your Mind\/En Vogue Precognition my ear. --One Way Or Another\/Blondie Doubt. Wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it goes! \u00a0 People often possess an unfortunate combination of trust and gullibility. When your religious belief system includes a mandate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "hmmm"","block_context":{"text":"hmmm","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3023,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=3023","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":1},"title":"You believe in what!?!","author":"Michelle","date":"December 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"You might believe in God. Most people do. I do not. No, not even a little bit. I'm not sure I even believe in such a thing as the human soul, although it's such an attractive concept that I have a lot of trouble letting go of the idea. Which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6721,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6721","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":2},"title":"Don’t look back","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I never, she never, we never looked back That wasn\u2019t what we were good at And when it came to love We were not good enough. --Lumineers\/Slow It Down Not being good enough for love is something I think about a lot. Too much, probably. Like everything else I think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/20140706-191531-69331077.jpg?fit=454%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4369,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=4369","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":3},"title":"Doing things the wrong way","author":"Michelle","date":"March 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When you are self-taught at something, there are things you do that seem really normal to you. You might assume that you are doing them the same way everyone else does. You might have absolutely no idea that you might be doing it wrong. Or maybe you know and just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8445,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8445","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":4},"title":"On getting out of the happiness mafia","author":"Michelle","date":"December 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't tell one from the other I find you, or you find me? There was a time before we were born If someone asks, this is where I'll be, --Talking Heads\/This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) The Modern American World really wants us all to be happy. All\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6589,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6589","url_meta":{"origin":2769,"position":5},"title":"Judge not lest you be…WRONG!","author":"Michelle","date":"July 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a story about what a bad judge I am of how people feel about me. Oh, sometimes it's obvious. A guy who asks you out every day for two weeks is clearly interested. A guy who sits in front of the table where people are voting for Prom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2769\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}