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As Bhisma lay on his bed of arrows, his body twitched in unbearable pain as warm blood trickled down the shaft of those arrows that had pinned him to the ground. A tear drop rushed out of his closed eyes and slipped down his cheeks. He felt the soft touch of a feminine hand wiping it off his cheek. He knew that soft, cool, moist, and smooth touch. She was none other than his mother, the divine river goddess that once flowed in the heavens.
"Sleep, my child, it's past midnight," Ganga said, smiling.
"Sleep has long abandoned these old eyes of mine." Bhisma sighs.
"It was your decision, my child." Why do you lament now?" asked Ganga.
"What a terrible mistake it was!" exclaimed Bhisma.
In the Mahabharata epic, Bhisma Parva describes in detail how this great warrior died. Releasing hundreds of arrows, Arjuna pierced Bhishma in every part of his body. Indeed, there was not a two-fingered breadth of space where there was not an arrow. The old grandsire of the Kuru dynasty fell from his chariot to the ground after being hurt in this way. Great sounds of lamentation were heard from the Kaurava divisions. When the grandsire fell from his chariot, the hearts of the Kauravas fell with him. It was as if one of the heavenly gods had fallen. He fell down from his chariot with his head facing the eastern direction.
Just like him, everything falls apart. Sometimes our plans and commitments fall apart, our values fall apart, our sense of security and belief systems fall apart. Everything that we have built in our world to protect us, guide us, and lead us on the journey of life falls. Just because of our mistakes. We knowingly and unknowingly make mistakes that result in our fall.
Humans are very biased, overconfident, judgmental, and self-centered. Compared to other species, they have no idea what their own limits and flaws are. When it comes to why people make mistakes, these traits are significant indicators. We can't learn from our mistakes because we don't remember them. It is inevitable that mistakes will be made. The fact that we all make them is a part of what makes us human, after all. The way we respond and react to mistakes reveals a lot about our personality. Many of us tend to yell at ourselves right away when we make a mistake, focusing on our lack of perfectionism as the reason we're upset. It is surely not a healthy way to cope with mistakes. Instead of seeing mistakes as entirely negative events, we must consider them opportunities. These options depend on what we want, but there are an infinite number of them. All we get to choose from, though, is the idea that mistakes are stepping stones to success. Do we only learn from mistakes and failures? Does success teach us nothing at all?
Training monkeys on a two-choice visual task, researchers found that the animals’ brains kept track of recent successes and failures. When the monkeys gave the right answer, their brains worked better and their next performance went through the roof. But if a monkey made a mistake in one trial, even after mastering the task, it performed at around a chance level in the next trial—in other words, it was thrown off by mistakes instead of learning from them.
"Success has a much greater influence on the brain than failure," says Massachusetts Institute of Technology neuroscientist Earl Miller, who led the research. He thinks that the results can be applied to many parts of everyday life where mistakes aren't punished but successes are rewarded in some way, like when your teammates cheer your strikes at the bowling alley. The pleasurable feeling that comes with success is brought about by a surge in the neurotransmitter dopamine. By telling brain cells when they have struck gold, the chemical apparently signals them to keep doing whatever it was that led to success. As for failures, Miller says, we might do well to pay more attention to them, consciously encouraging our brain to learn a little more from failure than it would by default.
Most of the time, people make mistakes because of how the universe is set up to fit certain patterns. People who are right-handed, for example, will always turn right when entering a building, even if it isn't the proper path to the door they want. Expectations, in addition to these natural arrangements, have an important influence on us.
Systemic biases are bad because most people don't even realize they have them. People believe they are objective when they are not, or observant when they are not. When anything goes wrong, people also prefer to assign blame and point accusing fingers, even though they often misdirect it. People are prone to making the same mistakes over and over again. It's extremely common for people to forget their names and be unaware of important information. Mistakes tend to follow certain patterns, which is why being familiar with these patterns is crucial in learning from them.
The reason we make mistakes is that we believe we understand what is going on from our vantage point, but the truth is that we are simply evaluating the scenario based on our expectations. The name of this phenomenon is "looked-but-didn't-see" error.
Bhisma's problem was the same. He looked at the war from his vantage point, through the lenses of his own expectations, but failed to see the actual cause of the war.
People only perceive what they expect to see, the natural arrangement that dictates how a situation should seem. In comparison to a beginner, an expert will analyze and appraise a situation differently. This is because the expert spends more time thinking about the information at hand and takes into account things that a beginner would miss.
Random information is harder to recollect and that's why people remember things with significance more readily, which is why it's simpler to forget names and recall faces.
People have diverse perspectives on the same circumstances. Another person who was present at the same time as you will have a different account of the incident than you. The fact that random information is difficult for the brain to remember means that people often forget crucial data such as passwords, birthdays, anniversaries, and phone numbers.
The answer to why we make mistakes lies with our brains. Our brains store the information we see, hear, and smell in bits and pieces. When the information stored in our brains is not random, like birthdays and passwords, the brain recalls them quickly.
Beautiful faces are more readily recognized than unattractive ones. This is due to the fact that when we see a beautiful face, we pay more attention to the details than when we see an unattractive face.
There was a study conducted by Priceton University. When the research from Princeton University showed photographs of political candidates to participants, the subjects made snap judgements on the candidates' competency and efficiency based simply on their appearance. Polls aren't as good as these calculations at predicting how an election will turn out. A politician can get elected based on how they show themselves to the public. This simple study demonstrates how individuals mistakenly think they are making choices based on normal cognitive processes when they are not.
No matter how big or small a decision is, emotions, biases, preferences, natural selection, and social pressure all play a role. Humans will rather make incorrect choices and take wrong actions than do nothing at all. They can answer for their errors a lot easier than they can for their inactions.
For Bhisma, inaction was not an option. He was the great grandfather of both the Kauravas and the Padavas. He has guarded the kingdom of Hastinapur for ages. It was thanks to him that the kingdom survived several battles. But his emotions, biases, preferences, natural selection, and social pressure blinded his decisions.
Humans think that inactivity is a huge failure in and of itself, and that is worse than doing something they may regret later. Many individuals are not wired in the manner they believe. When recollecting previous events, people typically exaggerate them. They have a tendency to remember their own ideas, words, and deeds in a more positive light than what actually occurred. People have this habit so often and for so long that most of them don't even realize they are doing it. It happens a lot in academia and history, which is why the term "hindsight bias" was made up to describe it. People often add or take away information from events to get the result they want.
We have all seen cigarette cases, but did you notice that warning, which says, "Smoking is injurious to health"? But despite this, people still smoke cigarettes. Why? People don't automatically get rid of the effects of prejudice just because they talk about it. Notifying smokers that they are at a high risk of dying young does not guarantee that they will not die young. A report from the Washington Post says that drug companies spend an average of $7,000 per doctor to market their products, even though many doctors say that drug companies don't have any effect on what medicines they prescribe.
The thing to note here is that what we seek may influence what we perceive. The image in front of us is what we expect to see since our perception is limited.
Let us discuss what happened with Captain Robert Loft. Captain Robert Loft was flying an aircraft to Miami when one of the many indicator lights failed to turn on, causing him to lose concentration. They attempted to fix this fault with the help of the first officer, an aviation mechanic, and a flight engineer. The crew was so busy fixing the plane that they forgot they were supposed to be flying it. The aircraft crashed into the Everglades and 99 people died.
Multitasking without losing focus is very hard. Most people can't do two things that require their full attention at the same time. They have a tendency to flip back and forth, relapsing and forgetting what they were doing before, and it takes them longer to remember and realign.
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Research in the United Kingdom (UK) discovered a strange thing. They found out that the origin of wine purchases in a wine shop corresponds to the music played in that shop. Customers purchase Italian wine when they hear Italian music, and French wine when they hear French music. This small incident brings two facts into our plain sight. First, it shows how powerful people's perceptions are, and second, it shows the four main factors that affect how we make decisions. We will look at them one by one below:
1. Framing: The way a problem is presented can affect how people try to solve it. On the front page of the New York Times, it said that a new cancer drug that had just been tested for use worked well. When investors heard the news, they acted quickly and called the right people to talk about a possible business deal. But the investors did not react when the same news organization put out the same information on page A 28 months earlier. The fact that the item appeared on the top page enticed investors who think that only the best offers make it to the front page. Top news attracts a lot of attention, which is why many people judge a story based on its headline alone.
Bhisma's decisions were also influenced by framing. He was the son of the mighty river Goddess Ganges and King Shantanu, and that made him a demigod. He was the most perfect son a father could dream of. He was also extremely devoted to his father and his empire, which made him a perfect prince. Even his stepbrothers Chitrangad and Vichitravirya were overshadowed by his might and magnanimous personality. Satyavati, who was his step-mother, relied heavily on Bhisma for everything. Slowly, Hastinapur and Bhisma became synonymous. Hastinapur was alive and breathing just because of Bhisma. He was also a disciple of Parshurama, which made his enemies dare not challenge him in duels. Apart from that, his father, the late king Shantanu, blessed him with a boon that made him immortal. Thus, not only was Bhisma invincible but was also immortal. Hastinapur turned into a flourishing empire and a renowned kingdom only because of Bhisma. He had no choice but to fight the war against whoever threatened Hastinapur, because a threat to Hastinapur was a challenge to Bhisma himself.
2. Timing: People are more likely to take risks when the consequences won't happen right away but will happen later. When some studies asked individuals what movie they wanted to watch in a week, the majority of them said an intellectual movie. They selected popular movies when they were asked what movie they wanted to see right away. This shows that people are more likely to take very big risks when the consequences are not immediately apparent.
Bhisma took that risk with the Princess of the King of Kashi. Bhisma took the three princesses during the day, and no king was brave enough to fight him. When Amba refused to marry the Prince of Hastinapur, she was sent back to her former lover, who too refused her as well. Amba vowed to kill Bhisma for the injustice he had done to her life. But Bhisma took that risk because a kingdom as big as Hastinapur was lacking a prince who could sit on the throne and the repercussions were not immediate. Again, he took the risk by tying nuptial knots with Gandhar. This brought Shakuni into Hastinapur and the boon of 100 sons. Both were large risks taken by Bhisma, but the repercussions were not immediate.
3. Anchoring: People often tie their answers to certain numbers in different situations. Business transactions and purchases are good examples of anchoring. An item that costs $400 plus $100 to ship won't get as many buyers as an item that costs $500 and ships for free. Both products have the same price, yet customers notice the difference since the prices have been anchored.
Bhisma saw Gandhar, and he also saw that it was a small kingdom that couldn't do anything to hurt Hastinpur. Moreover, the princess of the kingdom, Gandhari, had a boon of 100 sons from Shiva. In both cases, Hastinapur was at an advantage.
4. Skimming : People scan printed things a lot, particularly if they know what's within. They only see what they expect to see and disregard what they should be looking at. During skimming, people fail to see their mistakes because they are not paying attention.
Bhisma knew not that the Kauravas' hatred for the Pandavas was a plot of Shakuni. He thought that if they stayed together at Gururkula, their childish nature would vanish away and they would be united. He also felt that the division of the empire into Hastinapur and Indraprastha would end all hatred. He didn't see his own mistakes or realize that all the bad things in Hastinapur were hiding behind his strong, immortal personality. He failed to see that the Pandavas were no threat to the throne; it was the throne that was a threat to them. Even the blind king Dhritarastra was siding with his evil sons and shakuni just because he was standing there to protect them. He said devotion to the throne was his weakness, because the throne once belonged to his father, the late king Shantanu, but his father was long gone and he must let it go as well. He failed to see the details of the events; he failed to see how his love and devotion to the throne were misused to gain political motives. He failed to see that his loyalty was doing more harm to the kingdom than good. He failed to see that it was not the Kauravas that deserved his protection but rather the Pandvas, who needed him the most and who were the rightful heirs to the throne of Hastinapur.
He also never paid attention to how much Gandhara hated Hastinapur after they were forced to marry their beautiful princess to a blind prince of Hastinapur. They felt that Hastinapur had used its dominant position to force the marriage upon them. Bhisma never realized that he had to provide them with a proper explanation. He felt they would be glad to join hands with such a vast kingdom as Hastinapur.
He also failed to realize that his father's love for a fisherwoman was unjustified. He failed to see how that could bring shame to the family name. He also failed to see Satyavati's lust for power and kingdom when she asked him to never marry himself if he wanted her to marry King Shantanu. Amba's life fell apart because of his promise to stay single. She was turned down by everyone, including her lover, when she refused to marry the prince of Hastinapur and instead wanted to marry Bhisma, who had taken her. Mad with vengeance, she decided to end her life and was reborn as Shikhandi.
These four ways explain why people are quick to make decisions. When they fail to look at things from a different or deeper perspective, they only see what others want them to see.
There is another problem to note. Our brains organize facts in a clean and orderly way by putting them into hierarchical groups. Our memory and the information stored in our brain are affected by the kind of person we are. Because people tend to ignore information in an effort to inflate, exaggerate, and downplay what they've learned, they may have trouble remembering anything they've learned over time.
Overconfidence contributes to errors as well. Male-dominated sectors are assumed to have high production and performance. Women are more cautious than men because they take errors more seriously. Women hate making errors, which is why they avoid taking chances. To make up for their lack of confidence, men think they can afford to make more errors. People can only accomplish so many things at once. The more people do it, the more chances for errors there are. No one will claim to be average or much below average if asked.
A study by economist Stefano DellaVigna found that people would say they were not average if asked.
"Everyone is overconfident, except sad individuals, who tend to be realists."
Many individuals don't understand their limitations, so they do things that waste their lives. To get accurate feedback, the following steps might help:
Step 1: Think Small: Sometimes the smallest changes have the greatest impact on our lives. Sometimes a small remedy may fix major errors. For example, a simple typed prescription could prevent more than 7,000 deaths each year that are caused by doctors' bad handwriting.
Step 2: Calibration: Calibration is a process that assesses both real and perceived skills. Calibration mistakes may result in significant losses. This is why it's important to recalculate every so often if you want to know where you are in life.
Step 3: Negative Thinking: It's important to stay positive, but it's also important to plan for the worst while hoping for the best. When we have negative thoughts, we must not allow them to take control of our mind. Instead, plan ahead for the worst-case situation.
Step 4: Partner proofread: We can not see everything from our point of view. So, we need to ask our partner to proofread so we can find the mistakes we missed while skimming.
Step 5: Getting Some Sleep: When the need arises, we need to relax and rest our bodies. When we work under pressure or stress, we tend to make mistakes. Sleep deprivation may often lead to less productivity and lead to errors.
When used together with happiness, these steps boost creativity and productivity a lot, making us less likely to make terrible mistakes.
The first step in rectifying a mistake is to acknowledge that a mistake has been made in the first place. A large number of individuals are completely unaware of the errors they make, making it impossible for them to learn from their blunders. Mistakes are a normal part of life, but many of the mistakes people make could have been avoided. In order to learn from our mistakes, we must understand the reasons why we, as individuals, make them in order to avoid making the same mistakes again in the future.
If you feel like you aren't doing enough, you should strive more, and if something isn't working out for you, you should know when to let it go and try something else. Don't act like Bhisma did in the epic Mahabharata. Always remember that a great deal about yourself is determined by how you respond to your mistakes. Always be ready to go back on your steps when you realize you did something wrong. When you pay close attention to yourself, you will be able to identify the things you are doing incorrectly.