(stolen from slashdot via The Bright Side of Wrong)
Hugh Pickens sends in an excerpt in last week’s Boston Globe from Kathryn Schulz’s book Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error.
“The more scientists understand about cognitive functioning, the more it becomes clear that our capacity to make mistakes is utterly inextricable from what makes the human brain so swift, adaptable, and intelligent. Rather than treating errors like the bedbugs of the intellect — an appalling and embarrassing nuisance we try to pretend out of existence — we need to recognize that human fallibility is part and parcel of human brilliance.
Neuroscientists increasingly think that inductive reasoning undergirds virtually all of human cognition. Humans use inductive reasoning to learn language, organize the world into meaningful categories, and grasp the relationship between cause and effect.
Thanks to inductive reasoning, we are able to form nearly instantaneous beliefs and take action accordingly. However, Schulz writes, ‘The distinctive thing about inductive reasoning is that it generates conclusions that aren’t necessarily true. They are, instead, probabilistically true — which means they are possibly false.’
Schulz recommends that we respond to the mistakes (or putative mistakes) of those around us with empathy and generosity and demand that our business and political leaders acknowledge and redress their errors rather than ignoring or denying them.
‘Once we recognize that we do not err out of laziness, stupidity, or evil intent, we can liberate ourselves from the impossible burden of trying to be permanently right. We can take seriously the proposition that we could be in error, without deeming ourselves idiotic or unworthy.'”
When I think about my childhood, I may have been punished brutally by other kids for making normative mistakes, but when it came to thinking in general, or learning to read, or anything else, I think I was pretty lucky to have been brought up by a family that not only didn’t dwell on mistakes, but seemed to use them as springboards to other thinking.
That is probably why I love love love gnawing on a problem today. I love to think for fun! Some people get exhausted and frustrated by trying to work on a problem where the solution isn’t easily at hand – I get a lot of pleasure from it. Whether or not I accomplish anything more in life because of that is probably debatable, heh, but I bet it’s a large factor in my (self-reported) low stress.
It may also be a factor in my motormouth and my general inability to enjoy something without thinking of ways I could make it just a tiny bit better. :D
… that’s another interesting thing to think about – it is difficult for me to explain how I can -both- be very pleased with my food -and- see how it could be better. When I bought my Wii, I was explaining to Lucy its shortcomings on the way home, before I had even unboxed it. I was excited, not even a little unhappy, but if you didn’t know where I was coming from you’d think I was pissing in my own cereal.
If I am a good video editor/graphic designer/web designer, I believe that way of thinking plays a big role.
Learning about constructivist education theories, that’s something that comes through loud and clear: people often learn the most by failing. We learn by critically assessing those new inputs, the things that don’t work in the way we expect, and finding ways to address them.
If you have a model of the world and something you encounter doesn’t fit, you can either assimilate it (add it to what you know), accommodate it (make room for it amongst the things you know, adjusting them appropriately) or counter it (decide it doesn’t fit with your understanding, and come up with an alternate theory). Whichever of those outcomes happens, it changes our model for how we approach things in future.
Some people think that critical thinking takes the fun out of life. I think it helps me appreciate life through all its different facets. Even for the “simple” things. Knowing how and why things like auroras, rainbows and sunsets work only amplifies the wonder :-)
You might like this comic, too: http://abstrusegoose.com/275
And with regard to politicians, yes, I’m far happier with ones who’ll admit they screwed up and try to fix it/do better next time. The real scandal is not in failure, but in failing to learn from failure.
OH AWESOME. I couldn’t agree more. And when are we going to get 6-8 hours together to discuss the Problem of Evil, or something else hopelessly tangly with no answer?? I can’t wait, heh.
Psh, any ol’ time. ‘cept this Tuesday, when I’m hoping to go to i3Detroit and have them teach me how to fix my wiimote and maybe solder my first arduino. And Thursday will be Construct Thursday, heh. I can get my buddy Scott Thom in on it (though he works late), and we’ll -really- get in a philosophical tangle!
THAT’s the thing I meant to look up — i3D. Is it cool, then?
Yeah! It’s a keen non-profit with really friendly folk there.
You find all the best stuff!!