Comments on: I was wrong

By: Stephen Dawson

Stephen Dawson — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:20:00 +0000

P.J. O’Rourke says in ‘Eat the Rich’ that Julius Nyerere, after stepping down from leadership in Tanzania, said ‘I was wrong’ about his entire socialist program for the country.

By: Ambuj Saxena

Ambuj Saxena — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:08:00 +0000

I think it is far fetched to expect top politicians (like President) to feel guilty. Politicians are narcissists, and narcissists don’t feel guilt. They only feel shame.

By: Jake S.

Jake S. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:01:00 +0000

Only after the American people told him he was wrong first.

Zing! Thank you, I’ll be here all week….

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:10:00 +0000

GHW Bush said he was wrong when he raised taxes.

By: Jake S.

Jake S. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Wow, that’s actually a good one. Not wanting to stray too far along on a tangent, but I didn’t recall them as being “illegally sold” at the time of sale, although I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t follow this issue as closely as others may have done.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:17:00 +0000

“Greenspan is apologizing for running the Fed in a manner consistent with an inaccurate understanding of the market.”

That’s like Jack-the-Ripper apologizing for an inaccurate understanding of hemodynamics.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:48:00 +0000

RE: “What you call Greenspan’s contrition was quite literally NOT contrition. Greenspan apologizing for capitalism is like a Democrat apologizing for a Republican or a capitalist apologizing for a socialist.”

“Capitalism” isn’t a person and it doesn’t decide anything. Greenspan can’t apologize for it. The whole point is Greenspan is apologizing for running the Fed in a manner consistent with an inaccurate understanding of the market. He is culpable for that. I’d have prefered he apologized for the interest rates as well, but I’ll take what I can get.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:23:00 +0000

“He is apologizing for others and not himself.”Which is in fact criticism of others, masked in apology.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:13:00 +0000

“I prefer people just state what they think and when someone presents information that invalidates their opinion, they change their mind. To me, that’s a sign of a healthy ego and of a person who is more interested in coming to the right conclusion rather than nurturing hubris.”

Perfect. If people want their egos stroked they should visit their mothers. If they want to think and learn, they should strip that nonsense from discussion.

By: RL

RL — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Best CEO apology came recently, from Jeff Bezos of Amazon, regarding Kindle deletion of “1984,” published on the Amazon website, where it was initially boldly highlighted:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:51:00 +0000

contrite – feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses

What you call Greenspan’s contrition was quite literally NOT contrition. Greenspan apologizing for capitalism is like a Democrat apologizing for a Republican or a capitalist apologizing for a socialist.

It is only made more infuriating when this apology is in reality a diversion from his own culpability–when it is him blaming someone else for his own culpability.

It is despicable.

By: Methinks

Methinks — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:47:00 +0000

The only thing I want to hear from my president is “I promise I will step back and let you make your own decisions for your life.”

By: Methinks

Methinks — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

No question. Scary stuff.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

“people who disagree with you have a tendancy to not argue with your points directly and instead just accuse you of thinking you know everything”

So true. Such people frequently tend to launch into ad hominems without adding information, as you say. Those are not people who add value to argument, so it is useful for them to reveal themselves early. All the more reason not stroke their egos with noninformative qualifiers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Many of us do, but some are too stupid to understand they’re helping speed up the hand-cart.

By: Jake S.

Jake S. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:29:00 +0000

On a related but lighter note…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyCERZBxv5Y

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:21:00 +0000

There is also Barak Obama going around the world apologizing. He is apologizing for others and not himself. This is harmful because it puts himself and the others in a discredited position. This is passive/agressive apologizing and I doubt he will apologize for his own actions and policies becausen he has weakend his status from the outset.

By: Seth

Seth — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Well put. Agreed.

By: Seth

Seth — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:59:00 +0000

I agree to a certain extent. It can be a manipulator. But, I find it helpful in several respects. First, it’s a nice reminder to myself that, in fact, I could be wrong and that my main goal should be to learn if I am or not. That opens the door for others to present evidence or arguments that will either convince me that I’m wrong or not. Second, I find that if I’m genuine, it takes the powder keg out of the discussion and leads to a much more productive discussion.

Based on what I know about people being wrong (it’s possible and probable, even for ‘experts’), I want to hear from my doctor, “I could be wrong, you should get a second opinion”. I want to hear from people who influence my kid, “I could be wrong, you should think through this yourself.” I want to hear from scientists claiming that AGW is a serious threat, “I could be wrong. That’s based on my interpretation of these specific facts. Take a look for yourself and draw your own conclusions or, perhaps you’ll see something I don’t.” I want to hear from my President,….

By: Seth

Seth — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:47:00 +0000

“especially when they’re genuine.”