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Is there a word that means doing the right thing for the wrong reason or getting the right conclusion from the wrong set of presumptions?

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  • both i guess. they seem to reference similar ideas?
    – platframe
    Jan 28, 2011 at 16:27
  • Good question. Hope you get an answer.
    – Robusto
    Jan 28, 2011 at 17:21
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    Nice question. Reverse dictionaries totally fail at it, returning casuistry, mutazilite, and land value tax.
    – RegDwigнt
    Jan 28, 2011 at 17:33
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    @RegDwight: LOL at land value tax.
    – Marthaª
    Jan 29, 2011 at 0:12
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    When you say, "Doing the right thing for the wrong reason" are you implying that the wrong reason is an underhanded or selfish reason, or could the reason be innocent, but wrong because of the person's ignorance or naivete?
    – Scott Mitchell
    Jan 29, 2011 at 0:50

10 Answers 10

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The word unwittingly seems close, though you may have to qualify it. I found an example I think demonstrates this use (see page 140 in the search results).

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    I agree wholeheartedly on the second half, about getting a correct result from incorrect presumption: unwittingly is a perfect word for that. But acting unwittingly carries a connotation (to me) of acting with incomplete knowledge versus a wrong reason. I agree it's probably the best word so far, +1.
    – atroon
    Jan 28, 2011 at 22:30
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    I second this. "Doing the right thing for the wrong reason" is a bit more specific than unwittingly, but it's as close as you can get I think.
    – Noldorin
    Jan 28, 2011 at 23:28
  • yeah i feel it just has to be qualified far too much to work. youd have to qualify it by using most of the words that we are trying not to use. for example "he unwittingly did the right thing, though he did it for the wrong reasons." if you cut it after "unwittingly" it just doesn't make sense anymore, if you cut it after the comma it changes the meaning, from him definitely doing it for the wrong reasons, to just him doing it without his knowledge. TL;DR- unwittingly just doesn't work for this. we need something like "schadenfreude" a single word for a whole complicated idea.
    – British-tv-fan
    May 14, 2021 at 9:00
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How about a new word: corraccidentally

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  • 12
    I fantastapprove.
    – Chris B. Behrens
    Jan 28, 2011 at 21:08
  • i like it how about "benevolupidity" [Ben-evo-lue-pid-ah-ty] (benevolent stupidity) or "ignorevolence" [Ig-no-rev-oh-lence] (ignorant benevolence) as soft synonyms
    – British-tv-fan
    May 14, 2021 at 2:22
  • EXAMPLE "the anti-mask, and anti-vax crowd committed an ignorevelent act of benevolupidity, by deciding to finally wear masks....to 'protect' themselves from the vaccinated......"
    – British-tv-fan
    May 14, 2021 at 9:14
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Serendipitously is the word I would use, although it means something more like "doing the right thing for no reason at all".

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  • This is the correct answer.
    – Owl
    Nov 1, 2019 at 15:33
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I think this question can't have a clear answer because this phrase is quite open.

Think about all the situations where this could be applied.

So going to the root of the problem, I think what this phrase is expressing is that the person isn't aware of all the circumstances (or has the wrong idea) when doing something.

So I agree with @Andy that it might be unwittingly. Or in my opinion inadvertently would be a closer fit to.

That said, it might also be expressed unintentional, since he/she is doing something wrong, thinking its the right thing.

But all those meaning don't cover the harshest way to use this phrase that would make the "accused" a naif, confused or misguided (I like this last actually) since you could be meaning: "although you are doing the right thing, there is not much merit to it, since it's almost by chance, you don't have a philosophy behind your actions (or a wrong one)"

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    i think Trufa's* last paragraph echoes the sort of application for the word. IMO where some one to use unwittingly or unassumingly in conversation, odds are low i would interpret them as in the paragraph. The reason the word unwittingly works in the example cited by Andy is the context within which the word was used. It was after all attempting to explain what we are trying to find a word for. If George Sher knew a word that worked for that connotation, he could have saved himself a few sentences. or perhaps i just need to re-evaluate my relationship with unwittingly.
    – platframe
    Jan 29, 2011 at 16:11
  • @Martha, thanks for the correction, my bad! And @platframe nicely put.
    – Trufa
    Jan 29, 2011 at 16:20
  • Misguided came to my mind too.
    – DMc
    Jan 11, 2012 at 15:09
  • for "unwittingly" to work you would have to tease the meaning by using most of the words that are trying to be deleted." for example "he unwittingly did the right thing, though he did it for the wrong reasons." if you cut it after "unwittingly" it just doesn't make sense anymore, if you cut it after the comma it changes the meaning, from him definitely doing it for the wrong reasons, to just him doing it without his knowledge. TL;DR- unwittingly just doesn't work for this.
    – British-tv-fan
    May 14, 2021 at 8:54
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Ulteriorly. The individual doing the "right thing for the wrong reason" did it ulteriorly.

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2

I think this might be a candidate: unassumingly

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  • @Jasper Loy getting the right conclusion from the wrong set of presumptions? I would try to argue that I could have unassumingly listened to some foolish advice and acted hastily on it.
    – Bnjmn
    Jan 28, 2011 at 21:43
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The word "Lucky" is frequently used in that situation.

For example, in a case where someone confronted with two doors, decorated with writing in a foreign language, selects the one that is on the right as the "entrance" on the basis that everyone is right handed. He has made a correct selection, based on incorrect information (that is not why the door is the entrance). One might say to him:

"Wow, so you just happened to pick the correct choice despite having faulty reasoning? What a lucky break!"

Although now that I'm thinking about it, the word "Fortuitous" is closer to what I meant.

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  • Why Lucky, I cant undertand when would this be applicable, can you put it a a frase?
    – Trufa
    Jan 28, 2011 at 21:01
  • I fleshed it out a little bit. Its a very specific/situational application of the phrase, but that situation is one of the most common subtypes of the meta-occurance.
    – GWLlosa
    Jan 28, 2011 at 21:58
  • This occurs often enough to students in math classes to be recognizable, and is described as getting lucky. The student might be called a Lucky Larry.
    – Joshua Shane Liberman
    Jan 29, 2011 at 1:09
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An egoist or megalomaniac...is probably someone who would do nice things for someone to build their own rep etc. thus doing something "right" for the "wrong" reason.

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I'd say the person has reached the outcome "fortuitously" or "accidentally" (both mean "by accident or chance")

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Foolish:

Lacking good sense or judgment; unwise.

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