This Post = Fail

Hrm, it has happened. I have NO idea what to write about today. I was considering doing Music Theory for Dancers Part 2, but I don't really have the time and attention span required for that today. Fortunately, The BCS (BioChemist Sister) sent me a link to a nice little video this morning. She even said it fits the theme of my blog. So, I shall share it with you.


Go watch this video.



Did you figure it out?



I bet most of you did.



It also reminded me of a commercial from a few years ago. It was for a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I couldn't find the specific commercial so I can't quote it directly, but it was something about how failures are better than success because you can learn more from a failure. This video clip basically sums it up in non-commercial format. Same basic concept as the first video.

Science is not about perfection. It is not about "being right" all the time. Science is about finding out how things work. One of the best ways to understand how something works is to push it past its limits and break it. That is when you start to get a glimpse into the black boxes of the world. One of the best ways to find a solution is to gather a bunch of data from failed attempts and let that data guide you to what will work.

You know what else it reminds me of? Tap Dance. Yep, see what I did there?
In the tap dance community, if someone falls down during class, the following tends to happen:
1) Make sure the person is not injured
2) People clap and/or say "good job"
Why? Because if you fell down that means you were trying. In fact, you were trying so hard that you failed and fell down. Good for you! You'll never get better if you never push yourself.* Plus, now you have another data point of what NOT to do and that will help guide you to the solution.

*NOTE: The TDE does not condone reckless tap dancing. Push yourself, but not too far.  

It's about time we start celebrating failures. We should start a movement.
- Scientists should start throwing parties when experiments fail. It doesn't have to be over the top. Just have someone make some "hooray we failed!" cupcakes.
- Someone should design some "congrats on your failure" greeting cards. I searched the internet already and there appears to be a pretty big gap in the greeting card market here.
- The next time someone tells you about a failure say something like "Great, what did you learn?"
- Don't hide your failures from the world. Own them.

Go forth and fail!