Forgive the scattered nature of this week’s Actuator. No big, overarching monologs this week — just a handful of things I’ve been thinking about lately that I’d like to get down on paper. I suppose that’s one of the perks of doing a weekly newsletter— it forces you to flesh out some bigger ideas.
Point number one is failure. Ingrained in the American psyche (as I’m sure is the case with many other cultures around the world) is an inability to reckon with our mistakes. They fill us with a sense of shame that we weren’t perfect the first time around. Our impulse (depending on how your brain is wired) is to either stew in them to an unhealthy level (hi, it’s me) or pretend they never happened.
I think there’s something inherent in the sense of rugged American individualism that doesn’t allow us to accept our own mistakes. Mistakes are weaknesses, character flaws. Mistakes mean we’re less than or bad people. A country that prides itself on the notion of a self-made pers...
