Do You Actually Learn From A Mistake?.....

[ZenG]

When you make a mistake it tells you that you did not perform the operation correctly...that is...if the outcome was not to your liking.

However, the mistake itself did not teach you how to do it correctly...it simply taught you how not to do it.

Which does not mean that you will necessarily learn the correct method.

You could possibly keep making the same mistake over and over ad infinitum...simply because you are unable to garner the information to do the task correctly.

So therefor the mistake taught you nothing other than it was the incorrect application for that task.

 

[Funky Ghost]

Which time?

 

[fearceol]

The outcome not being to your liking does not necessarily render something to be a mistake... merely that you dont like it. If a child has kind, considerate, and conscious parents, he will be taught right from wrong (i.e. when he makes a "mistake") from an early age. He will only be corrected if/when he makes a mistake, so in this sense he/she is learning (by way of his parents) that he has made a mistake and this is how to correct it.

This basic training holds us in good stead when we grow into adults. We may not always realise our mistakes, but generally will have a good idea when they occur.

In the case of playing a musical instrument, again unless we have some basic training via a teacher, we may not know if/when we are making a mistake. This is why here on TB people (especially beginners) are often guided towards lessons rather than learning alone. This way, a teacher can spot a mistake being made, point it out, show the pupil why it is a mistake, and thus the pupil learns.


OP you are correct in that if a person does not seek advice or guidance, he could go on making the same mistake for a lifetime.

 

[sharkbait130]

Some people are smart enough to learn from other peoples mistakes.
Most people are at least smart enough to learn from their own mistakes.
Some people are just too darn stupid to learn from either one.
At some time in our lives we all fall into all three categories.
It's where we spend most of our time that determines if we are an idiot or not.

 

[slobake]

Yes I do. It is usually "I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut." Of course there are lots of other things but that one is the most important and most frequent. On second thought I guess I haven't learned.

 

[slobake]

While I am driving I never lean from my mistakes because like a lot of others here I never make mistakes when I am driving.

 

[Selta]

For me, when I mess something up, I pretty much don't do the exact same thing over again. I'll review (at least in my head, or if there's further information available, using that as well) what I did, what the outcome was, and what the expected outcome was. Having been in error, I look through my steps / knowledge, find the error(s) and begin again at that point.

I guess, for me the expression isn't "You learn from your mistakes", but rather "You learn from correcting your mistakes".

 

[Lobster11]

I think there are some contexts in which you really do learn from mistakes -- i.e., making mistakes actually accelerates learning -- and other contexts in which making mistakes inhibits learning. Sorry if it's poor form to be "on topic" here in OT, but this is the best illustration I can come up with offhand: On one hand, you can learn a lot from mistakes by improvising: You learn something from hitting a bad-sounding note, like "Don't use the major 3rd in this kind of jam." On the other hand, if you are practicing a particular scale or riff, every time you play it incorrectly you have practiced playing it incorrectly, which interferes with learning it correctly; that's why it's important to practice such things very slowly at first and speed up only gradually: You want to practice it perfectly, over and over, without making any mistakes.

 

[slobake]

I have learned a lot in my life and you know what that means.

 

[MJ5150]

From a mistake, I learn how *not* to do something. How to do it properly may remain to be seen, but at least I now know one way that doesn't work.

-Mike

 

[Funky Ghost]

That is what our ladies are for, to remind us.


What?


Oh crap. I still haven't learned that one....

 

[ChrisB2]

The premise of the OP only works if the "mistake" was doing something you intended to do, only doing it incorrectly.

Most mistakes I make are when doing something unintentional, like cutting my finger, which would probably be more accurately described as an "accident."

If the mistake is an unintentional act, and the cost is high enough, then yes, I learn to not make that mistake again.

If the mistake is performing an intentional act incorrectly, I find out the correct way, so yes I learn but you're right, not directly from the mistake, although the mistake caused the learning to occur. So in that sense, yes I learned from the mistake.

I try not to continue repeating the same mistake, except when it comes to drinking cheap whiskey.

 

[ChrisB2]

That is what our ladies are for, to remind us.


What?


Oh crap. I still haven't learned that one....

One time, my wife said "shut up!" I thought she said "stand up" and she promptly beat me back down.

I learned that one for good...

 

[Pilgrim]

My informal definition of learning:

Making a series of mistakes which teach you what you should never do again.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

I never seem to learn my lesson when it comes to women. My big head says "I'll never make that mistake again," but my little head never listens.

 

[sissy kathy]

Yes I try to. Most of the time I succeed, not always.

 

[RED J]

I never seem to learn my lesson when it comes to women. My big head says "I'll never make that mistake again," but my little head never listens.

Problem not head. Problem heart.

 

[zontar]

From a mistake, I learn how *not* to do something. How to do it properly may remain to be seen, but at least I now know one way that doesn't work.

-Mike

exactly--learning what not to do is still learnign something...
er, learning something...

 

[BazzTard]

I hope you DO learn from mistakes, coz if so, I haved learnt a LOT, a real big LOT.