Would you rather be right or happy?

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As title!

I think I need to expand on the title.

Imagine you can be either right or happy. Usually you might be happier when you are right. So that's both. But separate them for the purposes of this poll.

Imagine for example, a small girl is in front of you insisting that the moon is made of cheese and it was put there by a giant mouse god. Now, imagine that putting her right made her bawl her eyes out. Okay, now vote

I can see me having to come back to this a few times.

Last edited by Moog on 19 Dec 2010, 11:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Being right is usually easy, so that can be boring.

I'm all about being happy and content with life and with happiness, I know I'd be able to get my point across a lot better, which in turn will allow me to be more right.

Can't I be both? Wrong is still wrong, happy or not. If being happy requires me to lie about something or be quiet, I can still know the truth for myself and be right, without having to disturb people by telling it.

In that situation, would disturbing others bother you?

Of course, you can be both right and happy, at least some of the time. But if you had to choose for some reason, which would it be?

And please can people expound upon their choices? Thank you, all you righties need to explain!

Being wrong would make me unhappy. Being mistaken is another matter.

Being wrong would mean a personal failure on my part. I have had sad moments after angering another when being right, but sadness fades, and small quarrels are overcome. There is no forever in the discussion.

I very rarely express anything unless I am sure. I would be unsettled to be proven wrong. Again, "mistaken" is different.

Well when I'm right I'm happy, so I think I'd rather be right

Being both would, of course, be ideal. But I would choose being right at any cost. I loathe ignorance.

I'm happy when I'm right, and feel bad when I'm wrong. So, the poll becomes:
Right & happy
Wrong & miserable

It depends on how happy I am. The happier I am, the less concerned I am with being right. At the moment, I'm a little bit too concerned with being right. Hmmmmm...maybe some of you have noticed this? (See, I'm doing it right now) I just need to relax.

I'm not sure what being "right" means in this post.

Reading this I immediately thought of the movie The Matrix and "right" as being right about the truth of the reality of the situation you're in.

Being right in this context it may not make you happy.

But you could choose to not be right and be happier. But if you did this you've then made the feeling of happiness as the "truth".

You may choose to know the truth of your predicament and less happy but with the idea that setting the wrongs to be right as that which would make you happy. I think in this situation you're putting a higher value or principle as that which would make you happy, rather than simply the feeling of "happiness", as the highest value.

Hard one. That would drive me up the wall if someone said the moon was made out of cheese by a giant mouse god. My husband has done these sort of things to me and he goes "I was just messing with you" when I start to get upset.

I can't vote, where is the "can't make up my mind" option?

I didn't see Moog's expanded initial post when I posted my comment.

Theoretically I'd rather be happy but I'm not sure I even know what that means.

I don't think I have a need to be right but I do want to get things right. It's very difficult when someone says something you know is wrong but they won't accept the obvious.

I'm of two minds as well. It depends on who the person is I'm talking to. A small child that believes the moon is made of cheese or who believes in Santa Claus--it's not my job to correct them on the incorrect belief. People who have what I consider to be incorrect religious beliefs--I've learned not to touch that issue because it doesn't go anywhere.

I am, however, a future educator and thus have made a career choice to correct people when they are wrong and teach them new things. I know how hard it is to change people's mind once it's been made up--especially when their identity is formed around that information.

In sum, I have no qualms about correcting misinformation of a factual basis when the other person is an adult I know or a child not invested in the information (i.e., not about the Easter Bunny). I don't mind debating history, politics, religion, whatever with adults that don't mind debating. But probably wouldn't correct strangers on the bus because sometimes it's easier to let that stuff slide.

I would much rather be happy. Unfortunately, most of my life, I have had an obsession with carrying a discussion to a logical end, sometimes with little empathy to the impact it has on others and many times without understanding the impact of this to my social and workplace environment.

I have learned some tough lessons in my life, on when to press an issue and when to keep my mouth shut. While some people might term this as conforming, I think it is part of "street smarts" or "common sense", a natural or learned discernment in the social world that in many cases is necessary for survival and happiness, especially if you want to keep your job, girl friend, or wife.

I think part of the reason I have had a hard time with this is that much of the acceptance and reward I got growing up was based on academic achievement and having the right answers rather than social achievement and the gives and takes of relationships.