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Why do we hate making mistakes?

I’m not speaking of failure, because to me failure is giving up. But why is it that we hate making mistakes so much that we completely try to avoid them. I mean that is how we learn. I particularly hate making mistakes, it makes me feel stupid. But why? Is this also an evolutionary trait?

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Answer #1

I dont think it is something innate. I think it is completely learned behavior. We are generally punished when we make mistakes. We learn that making mistakes is bad. If someone encouraged making mistakes and showed us that it was part of learning, we’d probably be ok making mistakes. I mean it is as simple as grades in school. You make mistakes in your tests, you are punished with lower grades (and lots of red, now who doesnt hate a ton of red on their work?). The fewer mistakes you make, the higher your grades are, the more praise you get from parents, etc. This is true in every aspect of life. Especially since competition is valued over cooperation and thus being right is especially important because it means you are better than someone else who makes more mistakes.

Answer #2

Oh, and some people are more sensitive to this than others. It probably stems from childhood, where simple mistakes were severely punished and caregivers were probably overreactive to children who tend to make more mistakes in general.

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