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Comment by tombert | Hacker News Reader

I have tried to employ the strategy of "I'm probably wrong all the time". It's not perfect, and occasionally I'll get defensive about something that I find out is wrong later (I was staunchly against unit tests for example), but having a mentality that your mind is fairly fallible is a good way to avoid yelling at people, at least for me.

I do wish it were more politically acceptable for politicians to adopt this mindset. Without espousing a side of "Democrat" vs "Republican", it feels like the world views admitting that you are incorrect as a sign of weakness, or "flip-flopping",

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Unfortunately that's just the reality of how people think. The person who is making confident declarations is going to come across as stronger and more inspiring than the person who is being careful and thoughtful, no matter who is actually correct.

It's not really a liberal or conservative thing, either. Someone making a passionate progressive speech is going to appeal to those inclined that way more than someone making a careful, nuanced progressive argument.

Politicians know this and so will always hedge towards appearing decisive and "strong".

Sure, but confidence is also a virtue that can carry you far further than humility.

I try to take the approach that everything I think I know is correct, but that I need to reevaluate when presented with new information, and I constantly look for new information to disprove what I know. The subtle difference here is that I assume I'm right, which gives me confidence. I used to doubt everything, which led me to being very noncommittal and unconfident.

It's important to question your assumptions, but it's harmful if you completely distrust them.

It’s interesting you use unit tests as an example.

That’s something on which I have never actually settled my opinion. One month I conclude “nope, unit testing takes too long and offers no net benefit”. The next, I switch - “unit testing is glorious and helps push errors down significantly”.

Part of the reason why my answer to most questions is “I don’t know” or “It depends”.

Perhaps you ought to assume you are wrong that you were wrong about unit tests. :)

I just try and not hold any viewpoint with any dogmatism now. I'll admit that maybe people will come back and realize that unit tests were stupid, but this time at least I'll know that I was neither a staunch defender or detractor.

The final truth is usually, "it depends…"

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