Mistakes and human nature

Humans, by their very makeup, are driven by needs. The way these needs vary over time is best described by Maslow’s Need’s Hierarchy. In this hierarchy, there is always the underlying reference to the fact that human nature is neither good nor bad. Society makes it so. The need to exist within a social system exerts upon us some social pressure – much like living in any other institution does.

By extension then, the mistakes that we make are usually a result of a lack of information. Some mistakes are unavoidable, given the context and the personality involved. Other mistakes, while avoidable, still occur – mostly because humans are fallible, and we are not perfectly consistent in our principles. Because of this, mistakes should be seen as but products of our inherent nature. They should be perceived as powerful insights into our nature – a way of learning about our strengths and weaknesses.

Unfortunately, mistakes are widely condemned by society. With good reason too, by the way. Mistakes can be very costly, especially in the modern, corporate world. At the least, they can be a great inconvenience. It is therefore a good thing to feel guilty about mistakes. However, some thought groups take this situation a step further and make people feel guilty about imaginary mistakes. This is especially seen in some religious groups – where the adherent is supposed to repent every day for all mistakes – real and imagined.

The problem with imagined mistakes is that they are an unnecessarily burden. They take up unmerited resources – time, space, thoughts and so on. In some societies, they can even prove fatal – as some religious adherents result to a daily self-flagellation routine. All these costs are not logically justifiable.

Thus, if the society is to move forward, people should understand the following;
1. Mistakes are inherent in every new venture.
2. New ventures are necessary for human progress.
3. Ergo, mistakes are a part and puzzle of human progress.

Any system that does not observe the above premises is flawed, and should be discarded.