There are over 8 billion people in the world today. That means there are over 8 billion unique belief sets. And since no one is perfect, it means there are over 8 billion wrong beliefs currently held in the world. Some of these may be pedantic nitpicky things, like thinking a year is exactly 365 days long. Others may be literally world-defining, like believing the Earth is flat. Some are problematic, like thinking certain ethnic groups secretly run the world.
What does this mean for you and me then? Are we destined to always be wrong? Is it all hopeless? Well…yes to the first, and no to the second. None of us will ever know everything perfectly. But that is not cause for hopelessness. Instead, we can focus on being a little less wrong, on constantly growing and learning new things and getting a better idea of what reality is.
To be less wrong there are two things we need to practice. The first is intellectual humility. Put simply, we must accept and acknowledge that we are wrong about things. We should constantly consider what evidence will change our mind and lead us to accept new ideas. Second is curiousity. By constantly engaging our minds, we are constantly learning new things. This constant learning can help us remain humble, and also helps us get better at learning and evaluating what we know.
Together, being intellectually humble and curious are a powerful combination in our efforts to be less wrong. So add these two tools to your mental toolbox today, and be a little less wrong tomorrow.