You know I was thinking recently. About intellectuals and pretenders who think their intellectuals. And everyone in between. If you fall anywhere on that spectrum, and you make a flub. Like with Shakespeare. As just one example. Tell everyone that's the way it's supposed to go. Because you know, Richard Burton once messed up his lines in "Hamlet". He said "to be or not to be", and then he forgot how the rest of it goes. Or maybe he was passing out (he was drunk at the time). But everyone said it was brilliant. He was reinterpreting "Hamlet". So if you say something that's wrong or stupid or both. And no one knows why. Just tell them that's the correct way. How would they no any different? I put this in the "Culture" section because this is no joke. I'm quite serious when I say this.
I see accuracy as important. It’s having a personal standard, and to insist that your screw up is correct is akin to a lie, in my opinion.
I think you both make interesting points, but I side with drumminmama. It requires humility to admit mistakes, and we sorely need a lot more of that. Powering ahead with conviction brings things like "WMDs in Iraq" and that has consequences.
A person that denies making mistakes will probably not learn much as they go through life, IMO. But I may be mistaken.
