Are You Making Enough Mistakes?

Are You Making Enough Mistakes?

Thinking about: Mind optimization

William B. Irvine

Oct 27, 2026

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Because you are only human, you will inevitably make mistakes. You might make an

error of commission

, in which you do something you later wish you hadn’t done. You might instead make an

error of omission

, in which you

fail to do

something that you later wish you had done. You might believe a claim that turns out to be false. You might also make an error in reasoning your way to a conclusion. Most of the mistakes people make are inconsequential, but some are tragic.

Feelers—people who habitually feel rather than think their way to conclusions

—are typically reluctant to admit having made a mistake. It could be that, because they are habitually distracted, they are oblivious to having made one. In other cases, they are aware of having made one but find it difficult to admit as much—not to other people, since that would tarnish the image of infallibility that they are trying to project; indeed, not even to themselves, since doing so would be a blow to their ego. This reluctance is unfortunate, since it increases the chance that they will subsequently make the same mistake; indeed, you might know people who, because they keep making the same mistake over and over, end up having a miserable existence.

Tell a Feeler that they have made a mistake, and they might get angry. Who are

you

to judge

them

? Publicly accuse a Feeler of making a mistake, and they might come to regard you as an enemy who is trying to make them look bad—spurred on, perhaps, by feelings of envy.

Many (most?) politicians are toward the Feeler end of the intellectual spectrum. This is particularly true in a democracy in which a majority of voters are Feelers. Suppose that after enacting a law, it becomes clear that it is having disastrous consequences. Under these circumstances, a politician might, rather than admitting that they made a mistake, feel compelled to double down—and thereby compound that mistake. In such cases, it is likely to be not the politician personally but their constituents who pay the price.

In contrast, Thinkers—people who routinely make a conscious effort to engage in evidence-based reasoning to reach conclusions—

readily admit their fallibility

. They assume that their belief set contains mistaken beliefs, and as part of their

mindcleaning regimen

, they search for them and, on finding one, eradicate it. When someone tells them that they have made a mistake, they will stifle their ego for long enough to consider whether a mistake has in fact been made, and if it has, they might thank the other person for straightening them out.

If this behavior sounds strange, recall that Thinkers’ primary concern is not with optimizing their social standing; it is instead with optimizing their mind by filling it, to the extent possible, with true and useful beliefs. As a result, they welcome thoughtful critiques of their actions and beliefs. By revealing their mistaken beliefs, their critics are helping them achieve this goal, meaning that thanks are in order.

Thinkers don’t just welcome thoughtful critiques; they seek them. They might, in particular, try out an idea on a friend or relative. The snag is that this audience is likely to tell them what they want to hear, which won’t help them shape and sharpen their idea. A better audience would be a fellow Thinker, given specific instructions to look for their idea’s flaws and weaknesses.

If such a person isn’t available, there is an alternative. I have already recommended using AI chatbots

to stress test your beliefs

. They can also be used as a sounding board for testing your ideas. The snag is that they are programmed to tell you what you want to hear, so you will keep coming back for more, allowing the people who run them to—somehow or other—make money. Your first step in using a chatbot should therefore be to make it clear in your prompt that you don’t want it to praise you and tell you what you are doing right; you instead want it to tell you what you are doing wrong. Are your assumptions mistaken? Have you overlooked evidence? Is your reasoning defective?

There is clearly such a thing as making

too many

mistakes. This will be the case if we fail to think before we act. It is also possible, however, to make

too few

mistakes. In particular, Feelers might hesitate to take considered risks. Their egos will be bruised, after all, by a failure, and their public image might be tarnished as well.

Thinkers won’t be similarly inhibited, but don’t get me wrong. They won’t take stupid risks; nor will they take risks in which failure can have disastrous consequences. They will, however, be willing to experiment—to learn by a process of trial and error. This is certainly the case with the world’s greatest inventors. They are notable for their intelligence, capacity for hard work, and willingness to think independently. Most important, however, is their ability to try something, fail, learn from that failure, and try again.

Think about it. Are you actively looking for your mistakes and owning up to those you find? Do you consider the possibility that your critics might be right? And not to be forgotten, are you making enough mistakes, or have you been incapacitated by a fear of failing?

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Want to listen to rather than read an essay? Open it on your mobile device’s Substack app and click on the listen button.

Paid subscribers can also listen to my initial 22 posts on their favorite podcast app, such as Spotify. Open the app, search for “Thinking More and Better,” and add episodes to your playlist. These are the posts in which I explain what is involved in being a Thinker, with a capital T, instead of a Feeler. By listening to them in order, you can, in under two hours, gain a full understanding of the Thinker concept.

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