Image Credits

As is my daily routine, today I was reading about the latest tech news and was really inspired by what I read. We truly are moving ahead on all fronts and it fills me with great joy thinking about what our collective human effort has managed to achieve thus far. 

We have been able to do that because, as a species, we are dreamers, goal setters and go-getters. We are never satisfied with the way things are and just want to keep on moving forward to something better.

Of course, the journey hasn’t been without it’s failures. Whenever we take on an endeavour, there is no guarantee that we will succeed in it. There is always a risk factor involved. This often stops many people from pursuing something that they consider have chances of failing. 

This gives rise to a thought provoking question. Which is worse, failing or never trying in the first place?

Never Trying

One might think that it would be wiser to not try something at all if there are any chances that he or she might fail. The argument here is that if one doesn’t try, one can’t fail. There will be no loss in time, effort and/or money. 

These type of decisions are made all the time in the business world. Whether to pursue a particular deal or not and the likes. Sometimes there is ample data to make an informed decision and sometimes there is not.

Regardless, this way of thinking tries to avoid failure and the terrible feelings it brings with it instead of trying one’s hand for the chance of success and the great, awesome feelings it brings with it!

I guess it depends on the scenario and what a person stands to lose if he fails. I wouldn’t say that ‘never trying’ is just being scared or being lazy. Sometimes it may also be a smart decision to not engage something or someone. 

Failing

It is said that failure is our best teacher. A person who has failed has learned. It was Einstein who said, “Failure is success in progress”. All the things that we humans have achieved so far has been possible because we tried and we failed and we tried again. 

The things that we take for granted, like electricity, the computer you are reading this on, the car you drive, all are a result of failure. It was due to failure of the innovators who kept going, kept refining their innovations and ideas which finally resulted in their success and in turn, humanity’s success. 

Personally I favour failing over not trying at all. I think about it in a logical way. If you try, you have 50% chance of success and 50% chance of failure. If you do not try at all, you have 0% chance of success and 0% chance of failure.

So, logically, trying would be better because if you succeed, that’s well and good, and if you don’t you still get to learn from it and try again with possibly increased chances of success. That sounds a whole lot better than 2 zeros. 

So, in conclusion, and in my opinion, I would say that not trying at all is worse.