Why do we make mistakes?

[Dofuss3000]

Why is the human mind prone to make mistakes?

 

[PlasmaBomb]

What kind of mistakes are you asking about? Or do you want an explanation for all of them?

 

[Dofuss3000]

What I am really looking for is the ability to learn how to learn.

I have a devilishly hard time learning anything at this point and I think I need professional literature on cognitive neuroscience and cognitive science in order to LEARN how to LEARN.

 

[dkozloski]

A guy that had just run a fork lift through the side of a multimillion dollar jetliner told me that he made mistakes because he didn't have a window in his stomach so he could see while he had his head up his rear end.

 

[Nymphaea]

at times we all get frustrated at learning new things... take a break, go back and tackle it again~ eventually you'll be able to learn it

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: dkozloski
A guy that had just run a fork lift through the side of a multimillion dollar jetliner told me that he made mistakes because he didn't have a window in his stomach so he could see while he had his head up his rear end.

Ouch

 

[hypn0tik]

I am not an expert in the field, but I would venture a guess and say we make mistakes because our mind is distracted from the task at hand.

 

[dkozloski]

A pilot friend of mine use to say, there is no such thing as an accident. You can see these things coming if you just wake up, see the signs, and listen to that little voice in the back of your head.

 

[Scarpozzi]

There's a difference in the kind of mistake.

If you're talking about mistakes, as in your natural skills and abilities....it's because, like everything else we sometimes may misjudge the physical world with our minds and not compensate for outside forces when we're doing something.

If you're talking about common sense mistakes....like judgement calls, well, some people learn faster than others.

 

[simondedalus]

i dont perceive the meaning of the question ....is this a mistake?

 

[Nathelion]

I suppose a technical answer would be that the brain is a neural network that recognizes patterns in the world around us and extrapolates the surroundings from limited data based on previous experience. Sometimes, that extrapolation isn't entirely error-free.

 

[Gannon]

The word "mistake" is undefined... what is a 'mistake'?

If you mean mistakes of memory (i.e. I meant to spell frute correctly, i.e. fruit).

The truth of the matter is human minds have limited computational capacity, meaning they are both

1) slow
2) have not a lot of memory
3) a lot of our functioning is beyond our control (do you choose when to age? whether or not your blood vessels, wounds get healed, etc?)

...

If you mean, why do humans think so badly.. the truth is human beings live and think in their imagination, everything they think is ultimately imaginary in some sense and not 'real' it is real in an informational way (i.e. it the information exists), but whether that information is

1) Good
2) Bad

Is hard to figure out, then we have instincts (feelings) layered over top of our logic, and even sometimes are logic is false because we do not compute things mathematically in our heads, we take huge shortcuts due to time constraints.

We've all done it, thinking "If I do this, then logically this..." instead of listening to our 'gut' when time is short.

 

[Gannon]

You want to learn?

1) you have to be interested
2) You have to have the time relative to your interest... if you're slow, you'll need way more time.
3) You have to have the ability (IQ, right neuron connections, etc).
4) There is a difference between MEMORIZING data and learning (the big picture), though both are somewhat important (being able to remember details).

No one can hold everything in their minds, although there are a few that have extraordinary ability--

Check out Daniel Tammet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKk96kOAnLg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOcqc1Ss


You should go take the WAIS-III Adult intelligence test or similar tests to get an idea of where at least SOME of your strengths and weaknesses are.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: Nathelion
I suppose a technical answer would be that the brain is a neural network that recognizes patterns in the world around us and extrapolates the surroundings from limited data based on previous experience. Sometimes, that extrapolation isn't entirely error-free.

Not only that, but mistakes provide feedback which helps your brain further refine it's algorithm.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: dkozloski
A pilot friend of mine use to say, there is no such thing as an accident. You can see these things coming if you just wake up, see the signs, and listen to that little voice in the back of your head.

No way. You are walking down the street and a stray bullet goes through your head. The person who shot it was shooting at a target 1/4 of a mile away and the bullet bounced funny. There is no way you could have known a bullet was tumbling toward your head either by the little voice or external signs. This would be an accident.

When a drunk driver plows into your car on a dark, stormy night, there is nothing you could have done to know the person was drunk and coming right at you if they were running a stop light or coming around a corner. I could come up with more more examples of accidents probably indefinitely, but I need to get back to work. The point is, that little philosophical gem is BS in my opinion.