Making an Error

If you go driving (if you don't drive, think of yourself riding a bicycle or hiking) and become lost, you would probably not consider it a good thing. You wasted all that time and you're still not at your destination. Similarly, in a class, if a student does a problem incorrectly, you probably would not consider it a good thing, especially if you are that student. You might not know exactly what is wrong and you still have to finish the problem and find the answer. However, just simply thinking this is WRONG, sets everything in that moment: you're lost and wrong.

But now let's say that you are back in that car lost along a road curving half-way up a mountainside. At the top, snow blazes with gold from the setting sun. If the pavement leads to a dead end then, would you think how terrible it was to be lost? Probably not, because the sight of the mountain top was delightful to see. Instead of being completely dejected, you likely would just turn around and see where the mistake was made.

Of course, the scene might not be so pretty. Not all wrong turns lead to beautiful sunsets and some mistakes can be dangerous. Perhaps your wrong turn leads you to a dirty abandoned industrial site with its straight edges and gray smokestacks. You are lost and are probably feeling dejected. Still somewhere along the way, you turned right at the McDonald's when...

The etymology of the word error leads back to the Latin word errāre which means "to wander". There is usually nothing wrong in wandering. New paths can only be formed if someone explores; this can happen intentionally or accidentally. In 1956, two graduate students discovered the B-cell, part of the immune system, when one of them, Timothy Chang was trying to show antibody development in chickens, but couldn't. Obviously, some type of mistake was made. When he and his fellow graduate student Bruce Glick looked more closely, they determined why the chickens didn't produce antibodies; this led to an important medical discovery.

Still wandering probably isn't going to lead you to your destination, but if you can see something along the road that is beautiful, you have experienced something. Even if you don't see anything of value along the way, you can still backtrack and figure out the mistake: you should have made a left at the McDonald's and not the right. Think about it for a moment. Realizing this has value too. Knowing why you turned right instead of left can help you. Read the directions: Drive 2 miles, and at the Wendy's, turn ______. Because of your awareness of your past error, you will have more focus on the word following turn and what you can do to aid your memory. That focus on the direction will help you go the correct way this time and in the future. You have truly learned and that is real education: understanding yourself and making the most of a situation so that you can more easily achieve your goals in the future.

I know I should turn left at the Burger King, but what happens if I go straight instead?

You now can explore more usefully too because you have a sense of direction. Inventor Thomas Edison once said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Think about this the next time when you or someone else makes an error.