Regrettable errors. I’ve been reminded of them a few times already today, and it’s only 4:11 a.m. Funny, I think, that when I looked at the clock, it was 4:11. That is the number we dial for information on our phones. Regardless, the information showing up today was concerned with people making errors.
The first was Ivan the Terrible. Of course, you know me and historical names. Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler, Frederik the Round. They make me want to have a Polly name, like Polly the Something. Anyway, there was Ivan, in the midst of all his Terrible.
He transformed Russia in many ways during his forty-year reign. Created an empire of sorts, but often this came with an immense human cost. But his cruelty to others often touched those directly around him. He was known for his “episodes” and had frequent outbreaks of rage (most likely due to mental illness).
The most horrific of these outbreaks happened on this date, November 16, 1581. He asserted himself on his daughter-in-law and assaulted her. He said she was wearing clothing that was too light. His son, Ivan Ivanovich, learned of this. The younger Ivan approached his father and confronted him. Ivan the Terrible struck his son on the head with his scepter. He must have hit him with great force, as Ivan Ivanovich died three days later from the blow.
This, no doubt, was a regrettable error.
The next error involved a man who was a Trump supporter. I say he was because now he is dead. He was from Alaska and even had a Trump tattoo on his hand. I guess he really, really liked Donald. But, he believed COVID-19 was a hoax. He went on a social media blitz about it, saying that they could inject him with the virus to prove it was a hoax.
No one injected him. He just went around in public, ignoring COVID’s existence. He caught it and died shortly thereafter. A regrettable error for that guy.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a coronavirus denier has died from the disease. The article also talked about a 33-year-old fitness influencer who thought it didn’t exist, as well as a 30-year-old man who attended a “Covid party.” Both men died from the virus. The list goes on.
Another regrettable error came in the story from the Austro-Turkish war back in 1788. It happened in the town of Karansebes, which is in Romania. It began when one night, a bunch of Austrian soldiers bought some Schnapps from a band of Gypsies. Here’s my advice. Don’t buy Schnapps from Gypsies. Anyway, they got stupid drunk and began to shout that the Turks were coming.
All the shouting started to panic their fellow Austrian soldiers. The sober ones. Mass confusion broke out, and those men began shooting at the supposed “Turkish invaders.” By morning, 10,000 of their own soldiers were dead.
Regrettable errors.
Not all errors are regrettable. The slinky was a mistake, as were chocolate chip cookies and penicillin. Pacemakers and Silly Putty were made by accident too.
Yet. The errors which are regrettable, typically end up hurting someone in some way. Either ourselves or others.
Of course, we do our best not to make mistakes. Yet. To error is human.
It would seem our only recourse would be to learn from our errors, our miscalculations, and to grow onward, upward. To continue on a better way.
Unfortunately, this world is full of unyielding people who will not admit error, fault, or inaccuracies, no matter what. This obstinate manner ends up causing more regrettable errors. And the cycle continues.
I think the best we can do is to live our lives, always looking for the right thing to do. The good way. To find the peace within ourselves and hope it carries through. There’s no error in that.
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“It is the curse of the powerful to be blind to their own faults.”
― Robert Fanney
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“The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.”
― Bertolt Brecht, Life of Galileo
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“The more good you can see, the more good you can get.”
― Meir Ezra
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