62 pages • 2-hour read
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error
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Essay Topics
What are some key viewpoints the author includes in her review of historical definitions of error? How does she distinguish herself from these perspectives?
Compare the pessimistic and optimistic models of error. What does each assert about the nature of error, and what are the potential results of following each model, respectively?
What are some examples the author includes to illustrate the fallibility of the human mind? How do these fallibilities lead to error?
How is the structure of error akin to the structure of comedy? Provide three examples of such comic instances from popular culture, and detail the structure at work, particularly as it pertains to belief.
How is inductive reasoning both a successful cognitive process but also one that leads us to err? Provide three examples.
What are some of the potential dangers the author explores in the text regarding the influence communities have on our beliefs?
Compare the emotions evoked by certainty and uncertainty. What do these emotional reactions reveal about the potential benefits of acknowledging error?
What is the significance of the text’s reference to Thomas Nagel’s essay “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” What is the essay’s ultimate conclusion regarding our relationships with others?
List three ways that the phenomenon of conversion pertains to identity and describe the kinds of transformation involved. What do such transformations tell us about the nature of the self?
What are some examples of systems that have been created under the premise that error is inevitable? Describe how these systems are or are not successful, and consider what these successes/failures suggest about the nature of error.
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