The Right to Be Wrong

“Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies,” Nietzsche declared. Religious or secular, born-again Baptist or the recently woke — fundamentalism is not unique to any particular political persuasion nor is it exclusively political. To those in narrow-minded pursuit of ideological purity, their narrative is the only narrative, and any disagreement is tantamount to treason and punishable by censure, ostracism, or cancellation. But when did moral certainty and intellectual omniscience become compulsory? How does this increasing trend toward reactionary thinking and an intransigent, us-versus-them mentality change the way we engage with contemporary politics, public opinions, or art? What do we lose if we lose the freedom to disagree and learn from our mistakes?

Passionately argued, coolly critical, irreverently humorous, Ray Robertson’s The Right to Be Wrong is a vigorous defence of independent thinking in an increasingly polarized and ideationally intolerant society.

Author Biography

Ray Robertson is the author of nine novels, seven collections of non-fiction, and a book of poetry. He has been a finalist for the Hillary Weston Prize for Non-Fiction and the Trillium Book Award, and long-listed for the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction. Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Believe was the inspiration for the film 15 Reasons to Believe. His work has been translated into several languages. Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, he lives in Toronto.