Ode to Error

Last week, following the episode on the obviousness of reward, Stefano wrote to me on Facebook telling me that he liked the episode, but that I had made a blunder in saying that Elon Musk’s reward is to see the planet healthy, while that of the teacher is to go on vacation.

Stefano was right. I had committed a lightness, to describe it with his words: a mistake, to describe it with mine.

If I had to deal with this situation a couple of years ago, I would have been arguing with Stefano that I didn’t want to talk about that, that mine was another speech, and I wouldn’t have changed anything because there was no need.

And instead when he told me I replied with a simple “now that I think about it, it was a superficiality. I wanted to make examples and I couldn’t find the right depth for everyone.” And I changed the text of the article associated with the podcast.

Here, this is today’s theme: error. Knowing how to admit that it exists, and the beauty in pointing it out.

As children we are very stubborn: we defend our opinions based on simplistic observation of reality. And we try to convince grown-ups that what we say has a grain of truth with a smile and a nice face, which melts their hearts. They don’t listen to us.

When we grow up and become teenagers, the situation worsens. With the internet and fast and (at first glance) complete access to Wikipedia pages and online forums, we think we know everything, and above all we think we know more than grown-ups. “But what do you know, you don’t even know how to turn on a computer”. I used this phrase often between 12 and 18 years old. I can say that, at least in my case, the internet fueled my arrogance. I spent years of my life on forums, without ever writing anything, but reading everything and ‘getting an education’ on hacking, computer science. I learned everything in the field, even before undertaking Computer Engineering at university. I always felt on the crest of the wave, but I never noticed that to do this, I sacrificed basic themes. Maybe I knew what the EEPROM of a PSP (Playstation Portable) was, but not what a MAC address was. Today the internet gives us the possibility to talk about things even if we don’t know what they really are. To argue without knowing. And to discuss without taking into account all the variables.

If we were in the early 2000s, I would say that the internet is democratizing access to information. We all dreamed of the utopia of a world where everyone knows at least the basics of everything: that illiteracy, ignorance do not exist, and that we all acquire critical thinking and productive reasoning.

And instead no: today the internet is based on the foundations of ‘if I read this thing, I can have my say’. Which in itself is not bad, for heaven’s sake: but if someone points out that the argument addressed is baseless (‘you’re saying a bunch of bullshit’), then here begins the phenomenon known to all as Defense from Hater(s) (DfH). “No but what do you want, but I can write what I want, this is a free country, there is freedom of expression”. Yes, OK, but if someone tells you that the sentence is not correct - syntactically, grammatically or conceptually - try to understand the other’s reasons. Try to start a constructive dialogue. Of course, there are different types of haters: those who want to troll (that is, just make a mess), those who want to get noticed with intelligent sentences that have nothing to do with the subject, but then there are also bearers of opposing ideas, who are taken for haters only because they are outside our comfort bubble (note how I defined the comfort zone on the internet ‘comfort bubble’, a fusion between the two concepts).

I have found my method to live more serenely: immediately accept that I was wrong, as soon as I realize it. Very often, in fact, I happen not to understand what is being contested - there is also a communication problem at the base.

But in most cases, as soon as I realize that I have offended someone or that the message I wanted to convey could be misrepresented, I admit the error. And I correct. Admitting that you are wrong, I have learned, is the best way to move forward. Because if a discussion is created about right and wrong, a useless vicious cycle is created that will never end, weakening relationships and cutting ties. And it’s not worth wasting our time on these idiocies.

Why create hatred around us? Does it make us live better? Isn’t it better to accept that we made a mistake? Very often, with people who don’t know me, this attitude displaces them. We are not used, in this historical period, to hearing someone else admit error. Because we think, as I said before, we know everything. But I keep well in mind Socrates’ ‘I know that I know nothing’. Today information, culture and scientific progress increases uncontrollably.

It is impossible, for anyone, to know everything. Just accept it, and accepting the mistake will come naturally. And when you accept the mistake, being wrong, you notice its beauty in the reaction of the counterparty. Haters gonna hate they say, but only because no one admits to having made a mistake, climbs on creaking mirrors that could break at any moment.

Just accept that we make mistakes. That we are fragile. That we are constantly changing, and everything will come by itself.

And you? Do you accept mistakes, criticisms? Do you have haters? Have you tried simply saying that you made a mistake? If you try even just once, you will understand how good it feels.