# Some people have a problem with being proven wrong. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647 "2004-01-04T15:31:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/42 "2004-01-05T11:44:50Z")
Speaking of Unicorns, you wouldn’t _believe_ what I had to do to convince my friend that they weren’t real. He knew they weren’t _magical_ animals, but he was certain that there were horse-like things with big horns sticking out of their noses. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/43 "2004-01-05T11:45:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satasha \* > \*\*I had a friend who refused to believe that Switzerland has an army. \*\* But … then … where do the knives come from? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/44 "2004-01-05T12:29:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > \*\*But … then … where do the knives come from? \*\* a shop, silly. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/45 "2004-01-05T12:40:58Z")
IME _most_ people have a problem with being proven wrong. Some just have a much worse problem with it. The problem with me is when someone contradicts me, but is only a bit more certain (or, worst, we’re basing it on vague memories but they’re louder). Then I don’t want to immediately capitulate (because other people get things wrong too) and I don’t want to shout. And if I say to leave it for the moment and look up a citation, then I get accused of being anal. And it’s certainly annoying to have to admit you were an idiot. OTOH, when a car without a reverse gear has driven in a circle for 5 min the only thing to do is say “Whoops, my bad. Hey, we all make them, right?” About the water: pure water is neutral. (Do I need to find a cite.) However rainwater is iirc slightly acidic due to impurities (eg. a small amount of CO2 dissolving on the way down I think, even before acid rain). I wouldn’t be surprised if tap water was too. So from that standpoint her comment made sense. (Though if I could be killed by very very weak acid, I wouldn’t walk around outside on a planet with any water vapour.) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/46 "2004-01-05T12:47:37Z")
Switzerland doesn’t need an army, it is protected by a legion of cuckoo clocks. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/47 "2004-01-05T15:00:51Z")
And Chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/48 "2004-01-05T15:15:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AnimistDragon \* > \*\*For example, in the “water is acidic” post above, I would’ve gone and stuck my hand under a water fountain and stared in amazement as my hand refused to melt. \*\* Doing so would have made you look incredibly ignorant, because there are plenty of acids that aren’t strong enough to melt your hand. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/49 "2004-01-05T15:54:53Z")
Vinegar, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/50 "2004-01-05T16:15:31Z")
It is anooying, but it can be just as bad to be on the other side; to be absolutely _certain_ that you’re right, but everyone thinks you’re wrong and the more you protest and try to explain, the weaker your argument is made to seem - this has happened to me a number of times (although admittedly not as many times as I’ve been shown wrong and had to admit it). ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/51 "2004-01-05T16:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Metacom \* > \*\*Doing so would have made you look incredibly ignorant, because there are plenty of acids that aren’t strong enough to melt your hand. \*\* Though it would likely have been a good debating technique with most people. Whether you use incorrect arguments on behalf of a correct conclusion is a matter for your conscience. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/52 "2004-01-05T21:11:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Doing so would have made you look incredibly ignorant, because there are plenty of acids that aren’t strong enough to melt your hand. But the arguement the girl was making was that the reason water killed the aliens in Signs was because it was acidic, no? From what I read, it sounded like she was argueing that water=flesh melting acid. Maybe she was argueing that they were vulnerble to anything slightly acidic, I dunno. That’s just how the post made it sound. And I know that pure water isn’t what comes out of taps (especially here, near Pfizer, ug.) Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/53 "2004-01-06T20:53:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*Err, **7 up yours** - > [your friend may not have been completely off base.](http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/garland_PDFs/Panel_2.02b.pdf) Although you are correct that pure water is neutral, I was told in my chemistry class that water is a polar molecule, and therefore individual water molecules change to hydroxyl ions and could be considered weakly acidic. > > FWIW. > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* Huh? Water is indeed polar, but that has little to do with whether it’s acid or base. Polarity is a result of a small charge on one part of the molecule, balanced by the opposite change on another part (due to electronegativity and whatnot, but that’s not really germane.) Water’s polarity increases its tendency to stick together and is, according to one of my chem teachers, responsible for its boiling point, which would be considerably lower otherwise. Water DOES tend to dissociate to a small degree into ions (as do weak acids and bases) but for each H+ (acidic) ion, there’s an OH- (basic) ion, so pure water is, indeed, precisely neutral. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/54 "2004-01-07T01:17:15Z")
My first girlfriend, who is a wonderful person in most respects, was phenomenally stubborn. At one point, we got into an argument about whether there was a year zero between 1 AD and 1 BC. I claimed (correctly) that there was not. Eventually, I tracked down a authoritative description of the calendar system which clearly stated that there was no year zero. This description happened to be in the World Almanac and Book of Facts. She responded that before the Great Depression, the World Almanac had had forecasted continued economic growth, and thus it wasn’t a valid citation. Interestingly, I mentioned this to her a few years back (10 or so years after we broke up), and she said that she knew I found strong, smart women attractive, and she thought that if she admitted she was wrong, I would lose respect for her. A similar thing that really really bugs me is the following pattern, which I’ve experienced with one of my good friends and my most recent ex-: Me: I believe fact X to be true Her: I believe fact X not to be true Me: Huh, I’m pretty sure fact X is true, for reasons Y and Z Her: I’m pretty sure it’s not true, for reasons W and V Me: Well, why don’t we look it up when we have access to an appropriate reference volume and/or the internet Her: WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO CERTAIN YOU’RE RIGHT??? WHY CAN’T YOU LET ME BE RIGHT FROM TIME TO TIME??? WHY CAN’T YOU EVER JUST DROP IT??? YOU ^%$#@! What the? By offering to look it up, aren’t I demonstrating my belief that I might not, in fact, be right? It’s got nothing to do with “letting” someone be right. It has everything to do with actually finding out what the actual answer is. Grrrr. The sad part is that I’m petty enough to have looked up some of these afterwards, and (in the specific instance I’m thinking of) I was right, but I’m not petty enough to actually tell her that I looked it up. So I just go on being pissed off about it ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/55 "2004-01-07T02:22:40Z")
In college I knew a girl who had to be right, and when in an argument with me, would always assert her continued rightness and my wrongness based on the fact that she was a chemistry major, while I was a classics major. Apparently majoring in the humanities is a clear sign that you are never correct about any topic. It drove me nuts. You are not automatically smarter than me simply because you have more of an interest in the sciences than I do!!! ---
**Author:** ![forever\_Dreaming](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5e925/32.png) [@forever\_Dreaming](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/forever_Dreaming)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/56 "2004-01-07T04:48:53Z")
theres just some people who refuse to lose arguments, personally, i hate those kind of people. but i have to admit thats pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Marks\_1st\_wife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Marks\_1st\_wife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marks_1st_wife)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/57 "2004-01-07T06:36:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*I just threatened my pile of DVDs with a 10 oz. glass of water. They didn’t flinch. \*\* Oh Ringo, thank you… I laughed so much and it came at the end of a difficult day. And thanks to the rest of you who brought this about. I love it that there is now a who’s wrong, who’s right debate going on in the middle of this post. What a riot. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/58 "2004-01-07T12:44:55Z")
> [@](#): > > brought this about. That is the middle of this post. No debate here!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/59 "2004-01-07T13:29:43Z")
Mr. Kalhoun and I purchased a faaabulous DVD RECORDER for my dad for Christmas. Mr. Kalhoun’s friend, Mr. ObnoxiousKnowItAll, is good with electronics and helped the ol’ man hook it up. On the way home, he asks Mr. Kalhoun how much he paid for the unit. “$450 with tax and all.” “Dude, you got ripped off. I see them at Sears and all over the place for $50 or $60 bucks.” “Dude, those are just “PLAYERS”, not “RECORDERS”. This was the cheapest recorder on the market.” “Dude, you’re a sucker. I’m telling you they’re everywhere for under $100.” “Dude, I’m telling you, those are just players, and this is a RECORDER.” “Dude, I’m not going to argue with you. You’ve been ripped off and you better see about getting your money back.” “Whatever.” Oh. My. Gawd. I just want to scream. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/60 "2004-01-07T14:15:46Z")
I had an experience once with someone who couldn’t admit she was _right._ Or at least, she couldn’t figure out that we were admitting she was right. She apparently mistook the phrase “I stand corrected” for some kind of insult and threw a minor fit when we said it. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647/61 "2004-01-07T14:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*It is anooying, but it can be just as bad to be on the other side; to be absolutely _certain_ that you’re right, but everyone thinks you’re wrong and the more you protest and try to explain, the weaker your argument is made to seem - this has happened to me a number of times (although admittedly not as many times as I’ve been shown wrong and had to admit it). \*\* That is annoying. I have met people were it does not matter if they a right or wrong they are going to win because they are good at argueing. I know a guy like that. When it’s something that can be looked up (like a word meaning). I’m right more often then not but he wins the argument up until it gets looked up usually. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-have-a-problem-with-being-proven-wrong/222647.md?page=4)