No such thing as a mistake?

A modern author reflecting the spirit of the age has written: “There’s no such thing as a mistake. There are only experiences. Some are good, and some are bad. Either way, it is an experience we learn from.”

Do you think she’s right?

It is tempting to agree with the idea that, since we learn from our mistakes, they’re not really mistakes at all—just experiences, just teaching moments.  But that thinking is itself the mistake of our modern world—the notion that nothing is really wrong; it’s just another experience we learn from.

The fact that we can learn from an error, does not make it any less of an error—answering that 2+2=5 is still a mistake, even if we’ve learned something about numbers in getting it wrong…just like causing an accident on the highway is a mistake, even if it teaches us to be more attentive drivers.

G.K. Chesterton summed it up nicely when he said: “There is something to be said for every error; but, whatever may be said for it, the most important thing to be said about it is that it is erroneous.”  Don’t fall into the trap: Our mistakes may, indeed, be great learning opportunities—but we must recognize them as mistakes.  Otherwise, what is there to learn?

Have a wonderful day.

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VERITAS ET VIRTUS

Welcome to Veritas et Virtus, the official blog of Columbus Classical Academy. Here we will share news and reflections on classical education.

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