Thursday, August 18, 2016
Mistakes to Great Ideas
In the book Where Good Ideas Come From one of the seven main points that Steven Johnson discusses is how error contributes to outstanding innovations. Error is commonly known and viewed as something negative. Therefore, when scientists or anyone performing an experiment encounters an error during their operation they automatically dismiss it. The reason why many have the tendency to ignore experimental errors has to due with the outcome of the procedure not resulting in something what they expected to happen. They don’t think that maybe what they were expecting is actually wrong and the possibilities of the result can actually be something different. However, some people acknowledge their mistakes and some mistakes end up resulting in a remarkable invention. For example, when Greatbatch helped an engineer create an oscillator, his errors while working on the device led to a new discovery which would eventually lead to the invention of an implantable cardiac pacemaker. It’s surprising how a mistake can contribute to a new idea.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I can concur with you Abriana and I too read Where Good Ideas Come From and really enjoyed it. Error, I remember reading and writing about it and I have heard of the expression "trial and error" before and when I read about it I was excited about it. Mistakes are what make us human and we learn from those errors and try again. The definition of insanity is, doing the same recurring thing and expecting different results. Great innovative thinkers with complex minds agree with that statement as well because without error, we would not know what not to do and how we would go from there. Mistakes are also proof that you are trying, if you try and try again and make mistakes along the way, success is in your future. Errors are a good thing and it just amazes me how the mistakes that we make have the capability of bringing good fortune to those trying to make a difference in the world. The book really made me think how everything was made and invented and where those idea came from and I really enjoyed reading the book and would definitely recommend it to others. Im glad you found the Error chapter interesting because I know I did.
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly interesting to see an error through a different perspective rather than with its usual negative connotation. Johnson's work in this book brought several new thoughts to mind that I hadn't encountered.
ReplyDelete