Trusting my judgment while acknowledging my bias

[breakinglight11]

Getting a touch burned out on social justice issues right now. Since I graduated I made a real effort to become an educated feminist, and you really can't responsibly study feminism without various other intersecting issues, so these things are my main form of informative reading these days. I care a great deal, want to learn as much as I can, and

Comments

[lillibet]

My experience is that being ready to be wrong is a huge clue to have. Not that you doubt your judgment all the time, but you're ready for new information and different perspectives. Being wrong is something I spent a lot of time thinking about a couple of years ago--it's not something that most of us are very good at, even though we get a lot of practice. Being ready to say "ok, I seem to be wrong about that," and to apologize when your words and actions have hurt others, is a powerful stance. It doesn't mean that you walk around worrying that you're probably wrong, just that you accept that it's part of the human condition.

There was a good blog post recently (I can probably dig it up if you're interested in more than my summary) about how vicious people in the activist community can be toward those who aren't politically correct (I use that term not in its pejorative sense, but in the sense of au courant with current issues and preferred vocabulary) on every issue. The post reminds readers that we have all had to learn this stuff, none of us learned it growing up, we learn it through experience and exposure. Judging others because they say the wrong thing, or have the wrong attitude, is not only cruel, but it ignores both the intention of the perpetrator, the cost of shunning potential allies, and the opportunity for education and widening of one's message.