Sunday 6 July 2014

To Err is Human...

I feel the need to state the obvious for once. (OK, for the umpteenth time if you insist.)

It seems a shame that some people find the making of a mistake painfully embarrassing, and the result is that they shrink a little. That isn’t right. Mistakes are what make us human, and therefore what make us potentially lovable. Would you trust a person who said ‘I don’t make mistakes?’ Computers and robots don’t make mistakes. Humans do.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I use to be very afraid to make mistakes, but made myself abandon the notion that making one made me look stupid. Wasn't worth the grief.

But you know what? The BIG mistakes I've made (and I can only remember one, which was wasting my time on a human being wholly undeserving of anything positive) where I should have known better still elicit a little shame. Sometimes a lot. But I learned an equally huge lesson: *always* listen to my damned intuition.

JJ said...

... and maybe bear in mind that:

1. Making mistakes is usually the best way to learn, and maybe that's what we're here for (although I mustn't start on THAT one.)

2. Mistakes sometimes lead to fortuitous consequences, and then you smile and say 'Well, I'll be blowed.'

You used the adjective 'damned.' Americans usually stick with the shorter expletive, even when it's an adjective. Interesting.

Anonymous said...

Of course. Regret and shame lead us nowhere. I'm learning to embrace the past simply for what it is and as something not to be dwelled on. In fact, the past is wonderful, in a way, for exactly those reasons you listed.

People have told me I have an uncommon way of expressing myself. Maybe I do. I don't know.

(Please don't get me started on existential nonsense! Ugh... :] ).

JJ said...

Yeah, there's no such thing as the road not traveled.

'Existential nonsense?' What can you be thinking of? What else is worth trying to work out?

I was just about to write a post about how my posts are becoming too serious. I think I'll go to bed instead.

I think I'll go
To bed
Instead

There. Now it's poetry. And it's late. I bet it's warm in Georgia.

Anonymous said...

Existential nonsense. I don't like contemplating why I'm here because I'm happy to BE here and figure it doesn't matter. And the answer is probably something as arbitrary as "just because."

It was warm and I was eating watermelon. The Good Life.

JJ said...

Do excuse the last response. I was tired and a little inebriated. I thought of leaving it until the next day but decided to make one final effort - just for you!

So, yes, I take the point. If you're happy to be here, why get screwed up over the reason - if any? The problem for people like me (and a few others I know) is that sometimes we're NOT happy to be here. The roller coaster can go to some pretty dark places, and then we have to try and find some sort of reason to carry on. I vacillate between both positions.

(I think I'll make a post about perceiving personal space in terms of layers. Later.)

I stopped eating watermelon when I had an ulcer once. It was the worst of all things for producing raging stomach ache.

Nice to see you relaxed. It's how the good guys should be, but too often aren't.