By Pierce – https://www.instagram.com/attestation.1/
Forget caffeine, sugar, or social media, the real drug is being Right. Being Morally Correct. The hidden urge to always hold the moral high ground, to be correct, to be superior. This desire is a hidden craving, yet it determines our lifestyle, our speech, and even our self, image.
The High of Righteousness
There is a great satisfaction in being right. Being right does give this rush, you know, like a hit of something that makes you feel smart, virtuous, and good. For me, this craving began in school. I wasn’t very good academically, but a small part of me wished I was. The bigger part convinced me that if I was already not good, why risk being wrong? Why not just aim for mediocrity and stay “safe”? That mindset kept me captive for years, clinging to correctness as if it were a shield. However, like any addiction, the highs must have lows. The more we seek the high ground, the more we disrupt the balance in the force, the more we deprive ourselves of the experience of embracing the messy, subtle, and liberating truth of being wrong.
The Fear of Being Wrong
We often say, “I don’t mind being wrong,” or “I love learning from my mistakes,” or something along those lines. However, this is usually when the situation is not very serious. I struggled with this fear for most of my school years. I avoided challenges because I thought failure would expose me. But later, I found friends who created an environment where learning came first and being right came second. With them, I learned to laugh at mistakes, misquoted lines, and nonsense we’d spew. Those moments of shared humor became liberating, proof that wrongness could be joyful instead of humiliating. In reality, wrongness, especially when we thought we were right, seems like being exposed, shamed, and even immoral. Which makes us avoid it, and adamantly holding to the facade of being correct, we become captives of the need to be righteous and morally correct.
The Freedom of Not Being Right
However, being wrong may be the freedom from the shackles of self-righteousness.The burden we love to assign ourselves. The burden of not being willing to be on the wrong side. The burden of being a slave to the high of being right. To this day, some of my hardest laughs with friends come from mistakes or mixing up facts. Those moments remind me that life isn’t about being flawless, it’s about being playful, curious, and human. When you free yourself from the prison of obligation to be righteous, your life can become joyful, inquisitive, and lighthearted. Wrong invites us to discover, to find humor in life, and to mature. To welcome wrongness is to welcome life itself. It is like water that is both destructive and life-giving, chaotic, indispensable, and vibrant.
To welcome wrongness is to welcome life itself.
Religion and Perfection
Many religious teachings discourage pride and self-righteousness. Even the pursuit of moral superiority is frequently disapproved of in religion. I grew up in a Christian family but fell out of religion as a teenager. For years, I was agnostic, but my relationship with faith now is rooted in the understanding that I can never be perfect, and I can never be truly righteous. The philosophy that resonates most with me is that we are all Sisyphus, pushing our boulders uphill, our righteousness, our faith, our art, our writing. I am Sisyphus, and my boulder is my pursuit of perfection. Yet the life and faith remind me it is not by deeds but by the heart that one reaches the summit. That truth is burned into my mind and shapes almost everything I do. Victor from Arcane said once, “There is no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit,” and his evolving philosophy that “That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil” Righteousness operates similarly it is not a goal but a cul, de, sac. Chasing it means draining life of its pleasure since, like perfection, righteousness can never actually be attained.”
Ethical Flexibility
To be ethically flexible is not to give up on morality. It simply means we know the degrees between lying and killing. The shades between a wicked heart and a virtuous one. I am no stranger to ethical flexibility. Sometimes I forget that being good or bad is mostly a choice. I get lost in excuses and justifications until I forget that I’ve done something immoral. I lie — I lie to seem more competent, more interesting. I lie so much that sometimes I hate my own tongue. In fact, I once wrote myself into the Eighth Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno in a story I was creating, just because of the shame and regret. Yet I believe that because I am self-aware, I am not truly lost. A virtuous heart isnt without impure thoughts. Ignoring these nuances is like blinding ourselves not only to the harm of self-righteousness but also to the wonder of life.
Closing Reflection
Righteousness can be so blinding! It is through being wrong that one comes to understand. Looking back, the most freeing moments of my life weren’t when I was right, but when I admitted I was wrong. Those moments softened me, made me laugh at myself, and reminded me that being human is far richer than being righteous.
To be blind to this, to deny yourself of such clarity, is to condemn yourself to not only the blindness of righteousness but to the enlightenment of life.
The Addiction of Being Right
Criticism, Ethical Commentary, Morality, Personal Experiences
By Pierce – https://www.instagram.com/attestation.1/
Forget caffeine, sugar, or social media, the real drug is being Right. Being Morally Correct. The hidden urge to always hold the moral high ground, to be correct, to be superior. This desire is a hidden craving, yet it determines our lifestyle, our speech, and even our self, image.
The High of Righteousness
There is a great satisfaction in being right. Being right does give this rush, you know, like a hit of something that makes you feel smart, virtuous, and good. For me, this craving began in school. I wasn’t very good academically, but a small part of me wished I was. The bigger part convinced me that if I was already not good, why risk being wrong? Why not just aim for mediocrity and stay “safe”? That mindset kept me captive for years, clinging to correctness as if it were a shield. However, like any addiction, the highs must have lows. The more we seek the high ground, the more we disrupt the balance in the force, the more we deprive ourselves of the experience of embracing the messy, subtle, and liberating truth of being wrong.
The Fear of Being Wrong
We often say, “I don’t mind being wrong,” or “I love learning from my mistakes,” or something along those lines. However, this is usually when the situation is not very serious. I struggled with this fear for most of my school years. I avoided challenges because I thought failure would expose me. But later, I found friends who created an environment where learning came first and being right came second. With them, I learned to laugh at mistakes, misquoted lines, and nonsense we’d spew. Those moments of shared humor became liberating, proof that wrongness could be joyful instead of humiliating. In reality, wrongness, especially when we thought we were right, seems like being exposed, shamed, and even immoral. Which makes us avoid it, and adamantly holding to the facade of being correct, we become captives of the need to be righteous and morally correct.
The Freedom of Not Being Right
However, being wrong may be the freedom from the shackles of self-righteousness.The burden we love to assign ourselves. The burden of not being willing to be on the wrong side. The burden of being a slave to the high of being right. To this day, some of my hardest laughs with friends come from mistakes or mixing up facts. Those moments remind me that life isn’t about being flawless, it’s about being playful, curious, and human. When you free yourself from the prison of obligation to be righteous, your life can become joyful, inquisitive, and lighthearted. Wrong invites us to discover, to find humor in life, and to mature. To welcome wrongness is to welcome life itself. It is like water that is both destructive and life-giving, chaotic, indispensable, and vibrant.
To welcome wrongness is to welcome life itself.
Religion and Perfection
Many religious teachings discourage pride and self-righteousness. Even the pursuit of moral superiority is frequently disapproved of in religion. I grew up in a Christian family but fell out of religion as a teenager. For years, I was agnostic, but my relationship with faith now is rooted in the understanding that I can never be perfect, and I can never be truly righteous. The philosophy that resonates most with me is that we are all Sisyphus, pushing our boulders uphill, our righteousness, our faith, our art, our writing. I am Sisyphus, and my boulder is my pursuit of perfection. Yet the life and faith remind me it is not by deeds but by the heart that one reaches the summit. That truth is burned into my mind and shapes almost everything I do. Victor from Arcane said once, “There is no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit,” and his evolving philosophy that “That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause of our greatest evil” Righteousness operates similarly it is not a goal but a cul, de, sac. Chasing it means draining life of its pleasure since, like perfection, righteousness can never actually be attained.”
Ethical Flexibility
To be ethically flexible is not to give up on morality. It simply means we know the degrees between lying and killing. The shades between a wicked heart and a virtuous one. I am no stranger to ethical flexibility. Sometimes I forget that being good or bad is mostly a choice. I get lost in excuses and justifications until I forget that I’ve done something immoral. I lie — I lie to seem more competent, more interesting. I lie so much that sometimes I hate my own tongue. In fact, I once wrote myself into the Eighth Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno in a story I was creating, just because of the shame and regret. Yet I believe that because I am self-aware, I am not truly lost. A virtuous heart isnt without impure thoughts. Ignoring these nuances is like blinding ourselves not only to the harm of self-righteousness but also to the wonder of life.
Closing Reflection
Righteousness can be so blinding! It is through being wrong that one comes to understand. Looking back, the most freeing moments of my life weren’t when I was right, but when I admitted I was wrong. Those moments softened me, made me laugh at myself, and reminded me that being human is far richer than being righteous.
To be blind to this, to deny yourself of such clarity, is to condemn yourself to not only the blindness of righteousness but to the enlightenment of life.