You Can't Make Mistakes.

I just read an interesting article by Jonah Lehrer at wired.com about learning styles and praise for the intelligence that struck me as being very relevant to this site’s (and my own personal) credo.

From the article:

The problem with praising kids for their innate intelligence — the “smart” compliment — is that it misrepresents the psychological reality of education. It encourages kids to avoid the most useful kind of learning activities, which is when we learn from our mistakes. Because unless we experience the unpleasant symptoms of being wrong — that surge of Pe activity a few hundred milliseconds after the error, directing our attention to the very thing we’d like to ignore — the mind will never revise its models. We’ll keep on making the same mistakes, forsaking self-improvement for the sake of self-confidence. Samuel Beckett had the right attitude: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”

It would seem that we’ve got the right idea around here. Blundering ahead and making mistakes and learning from them leaves you better off than playing it safe and appearing intelligent. So, take risks, act as if you can’t make mistakes. You may be better off for it.

Click below to link to the full article:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/why-do-some-people-learn-faster-2/