We learn from failure more than success
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.
Samuel Smiles, a Scottish author, said:
We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.
Kenneth Boulding, an economist and systems scientist, said:
Nothing fails like success because we don’t learn from it. We learn only from failure.
Given our schools’ dominant emphasis on getting the right answer, I wonder how often students get a chance to actually learn from their failures (as opposed to simply being told that they are unsuccessful or incorrect). I’m guessing probably not enough…
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.