--- title: Saying "I was wrong" and laughing without being cruel — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Saying "I was wrong" and laughing without being cruel», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Everybody gets things wrong. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / Saying "I was wrong" and laughing with… # Saying "I was wrong" and laughing without being cruel Lesson 190 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 26 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/0/) — Everybody gets things wrong. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/1/) — The difference between a good thinker and a stuck one is what happens next: "OK, I was wrong, that's actually cool" or "Nah, that's fake." - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/2/) — Oscar argued for ten minutes that a whale is a fish. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/3/) — Then the teacher showed him: whales breathe air and feed their babies milk, so they are mammals. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/4/) — I was wrong." His friend: "Respect. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/5/) — Laughing is allowed, and good laughing is aimed at the idea, never at the person: "Cows drink milk? - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/6/) — Ha, grown-up cows drink water, calves drink milk" helps; "Haha, you're so dumb" just makes someone go quiet. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/7/) — The best laugh of all is at your own mistake. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/8/) — Mia: "I said all dogs are brown, then my own dog walked in. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/9/) — He's white." Everyone laughs, including her. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/10/) — And no joke is worth danger: "Don't believe in gravity? - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/11/) — Jump off the roof!" goes too far. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/12/) — Drop a pencil instead; it proves the point just fine. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/13/) — Whales breathe air, feed their babies milk and are mammals, not fish. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/14/) — Changing your mind when the evidence is clear is how you learn; it makes you look smart, not silly. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/15/) — Saying "I was wrong" quickly saves time and grumpiness, and then you can fix the problem, like going to another shop. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/16/) — Grown-up cows drink water; calves drink milk from their mothers. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/17/) — Laugh at the idea, not the person: mocking a person makes them less likely to learn. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/18/) — A tablespoon holds about three teaspoons. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/19/) — Bats aren't blind: many see quite well, and many also use echoes to find their way in the dark. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/20/) — Calling clear evidence "fake" just to avoid being wrong is called motivated reasoning. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/21/) — In science, tomatoes are fruits because they grow from the flower and hold the seeds; in cooking they are used like vegetables. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/23/) — Laughing at someone for a long time makes them scared to try; laugh briefly with them, then help. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/24/) — Smart people of all ages change their minds when they see new evidence. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/25/) — Laughing at your own mistakes makes them easier to admit. - [26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/190-saying-i-was-wrong-and-laughing-without-being-cruel/26/) — Words people use: "Rare W" means a rare win, something to respect; "character development" means getting better, like a hero in a story; "my bad" means "my mistake"; "absolute weapon" (UK, jokey) means a legend; "iconic" means unforgettable; "cwtch" (Wales) means a cuddle; "tamping" (Wales) means furious. - ← previous: [Fighting fair: no straw men, no moving goalposts, no either-or](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/189-fighting-fair-no-straw-men-no-moving-goalposts-no-either-or/) - next →: [A fair trial, and the Wonderland court that gets it all wrong](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/191-a-fair-trial-and-the-wonderland-court-that-gets-it-all-wrong/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)