Theory: Making Mistakes

I just read a great article in Wired, which you can read here. The basic idea is this:

A new study, forthcoming in Psychological Science, and led by Jason Moser at Michigan State University, expands on this important concept. The question at the heart of the paper is simple: Why are some people so much more effective at learning from their mistakes? After all, everybody screws up. The important part is what happens next. Do we ignore the mistake, brushing it aside for the sake of our self-confidence? Or do we investigate the error, seeking to learn from the snafu?

Turns out that learning from your mistakes comes from your mind and your mindset. The longer you dwell on a mistake positively the more you will learn from it, and the more you think of your own capabilities as capable of growing through learning rather than as a set level of intelligence or aptitude the more you will learn further. The idea that you are working hard to succeed is much more valuable to learning than the idea that you are succeeding because you are smart; the latter idea actually discourages you from learning because you avoid taking risks to maintain the appearance of intelligence.

I want to add one thing to this article: Take risks! Make mistakes! The article talked in depth about how our responses to mistakes can help us learn, but didn't make any suggestions on how we could make them. Mistakes happen all the time, sure, but you can accelerate your learning greatly by putting yourself in situations where you're making them more and more. In Magic this could mean playing a deck or format that you're not used to, trying to build your own deck, and so on. If you're drafting with a friend and they tell you they don't think a card is a good pick but you disagree, probably the best thing you can do for yourself is take the card, play the card, and find out why it isn't as good as you thought it was. Get your friend to help. Any time you ever think something is a good idea in Magic but other people tell you it isn't just do it. If it is bad you'll find out why and know not to do it again, and if it isn't bad, well, you just found out something new about Magic, time to try to convince your friends.