Márk Gál
Mistakes: they usually happen when things go wrong. They can be quite annoying, but they have very important lessons for their perpetrator, could cause something to fail (for example: could cause someone to lose his/her life or a reign to fall), or somebody draws an opportunity from someone else’s mistake, to take advantage of it.
Teachings of mistakes: you can hardly get any experience without failures. Great artists, athletes, and others are never born perfectly. They acquire their skills by practicing and learning, and when they practice they make mistakes. They actually know what should change in their ways because of them. I too have learned from my faults: for instance, to save a game or file more often because I have lost a lot of things in many games. Also when I was writing this text, there was a blackout, and I had to start again from the second sentence.
Some mistakes which influenced history: 1. The fall of the Soviet Union. The leaders often weren’t thinking rationally, so firstly they killed millions of people (who would have been useful) or sent them into labor camps (where their labor wasn’t so much useful as free). Their citizens came to hate them because of it, and fomented rebellions and revolutions, so when Gorbachev decided to loosen the restrictions drastically, the people chose to rebel, and the government didn’t have the tools to beat them down or to convince them they were wrong, so they let the nations leave the Soviet Union They were also spending their resources, mainly for the military and not for a prosperous economy, so they ended up depleted of many resources. 2. The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. There were many failures on that day and before. a. The CIA and FBI had much information and even some rumours of Lee Harvey Oswald, but instead of sharing their information with each other, they just competed and didn’t search for him. b. Kennedy shared his itinerary in advance, so the assassin could start to make his plan. c. The police didn’t even secure the area so our sniper could find a perfect position to make a good shot. d. The president’s car also wasn’t the safest, as it was a simple cabrio without bulletproof plates and glasses, and the backseats were higher so most of the people could see him; thus, the sniper had quite easy work to deal with (probably just a “shoot here” label missing from his back). And these were all mistakes.
My general opinion of mistakes is that they are essential because they show us our deficiencies and can lead to great changes; on the other hand, they make us vulnerable and can shut out other options or opportunities.
Of course I would be happier if I made fewer of them.