The Mistakes That Most People Never Learn

1. Not learning other people’s mistakes

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. — Confucius (551 BC to 479 BC)

2. Reinventing the (Bad) Wheel

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants. — Isaac Newton

3. Not getting the fundamentals (and/ or missing the crux)
Fundamentals have been taken for granted. We think we have comprehended, appreciated and mastered them fully. This is usually far from the true. There is constantly discovery of new knowledge from the old. The Fourier analysis, for example, indirectly lead to methods of Wavelet transforms; and ancient methods, such as Calculus and obscure formulas revisited, found themselves applicable in solving and creating modern applications.

溫故知新 : “Reviewing learnt knowledge helps one understand it better; reviewing the past helps one understand the present”

4. Not understanding the `whys` and focus on the `hows`
Verification is doing the right things, while validation is doing the thing right (Many people may be doing the wrong things right).

5. Lost in `feel-good`, rather than `think clear`

The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think…