How many mistakes does it take to become an expert?
We tend to judge experts by their cumulative successes and years of learning, but I would argue a more valuable metric might just be how many times they've failed.
We learn to walk by falling over.
If I am interested in a stereo setup expert I would pay far more attention to someone who's tried everything possible before I would a person spouting formulas and theories. The same might apply to an engineer we want to hire—the more mistakes they've made the better their designs.
Experience in a field is valuable both for successes as well as missteps.
An expert humbled by their mistakes has the wisdom we all depend upon.
