A Response to To Err Is Human

A Response to To Err Is Human

       In the science essay To Err Is Human, Lewis Thomas argues that mistakes are embedded on the basis of human thought and so human beings make mistakes inevitably. He takes laboratory as an example to illustrate some usually seen computer mistakes and contrasts some lower animals to show that “to err is human.” He also believe that human beings learn from mistakes and thus we move forward. I do agree with his viewpoints in the essay and here are my reasons.

Firstly, errors are everywhere in the human world. As the author writes in the essay, the error is inevitable, and people face errors frequently. In daily life, you may receive strange goods from a strange shop or the wrong bill from the bank, and you may get a phone call from strangers who dial your number by mistakes. In work, such as publishing, the erratum is an inevitable by-product of the publication process. Even in computer operating system development, “Errors occur despite experience”, “Training and familiarity can’t eliminate errors” (Brown & Patterson 6). Psychology shows that humans prone to slips & lapses even on familiar tasks and also prone to mistakes when tasks become difficult. So it's impossible for us to be a superman or a superwoman who never makes mistakes. No matter how successful we are, there are always some flaws.

       Secondly, to err is human. Human beings are extremely complex, and they are built to make mistakes. We always want to make the best choice. However, it depends on our knowledge, experience, and even mood. Sometimes we have to make a choice from many options with taking all factors into consideration; sometimes there're no given options, so we have to try every possibility. Edison tried more than 1,000 materials to invent the light bulb, which also means that he had made more than 1,000 mistakes before he finally found the right material. So, if we do not make mistakes, there will be nothing right to be done. And, “other animals are not likely to have the inherited genes for making mistakes a part of their daily life”. Bees are born to gather nectar from flowers and ants move before the rain. So it seems that they always do the right things.

Thirdly, human beings learn by “trials and errors.” “Although ‘to err is human nature,' most of the project-based human errors are avoidable by having adequate knowledge, better management practices, and relevant systems” (Palaneeswaran, Ramanathan, & Tam 47). People always go for perfect, though they make mistakes inevitably. Just as Shimon Peres says, “If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be coped with over time”, we can “build dependable systems that can cope with human error” and “build benchmarks that measure dependability in the face of human error” (Brown & Patterson 8). In this process, the pursuit of perfection, we learn from the mistakes and actively take actions to deal with them so as to avoid the similar mistakes or find the better solutions. “Reflection upon mistakes leads to changes that are related to positive outcomes for both organizations and individuals within organizations” (Harris, Bauer, & Gruber 225).

To conclude, making mistakes is human nature and allowing human errors can be even beneficial for the progress of mankind.