Does knowing what doesn't work have as much value as knowing what does work?

1. 83

   tsmogposted 9 months ago

   Does knowing what doesn't work have as much value as knowing what does work?

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2. 87

   alancaster149posted 9 months ago

   Knowing what doesn't work cuts out unnecessary experimentation. It helps get to the nitty-gritty quicker than messing around, only to find out what someone else has already discarded as impracticable.

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   The0NatureBoyposted 9 months ago

   Actually, yes it does.
   
   Without knowing what doesn't work one can not improvise or correct it when a thing isn't working correctly. Unless one doesn't care if something refuses to operate, as often done with vacuum cleaners they just buy another, the need to know what doesn't work is of no importance.

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4. 81

   shanmarieposted 9 months ago

   I think that knowing what does not work has as much value, if not more value, than knowing what does work. In science, what does not work helps to formulate theories. When interacting with people, we learn what kinds of people click if something goes wrong we learn what didn't work to hopefully avoid the same mistakes again. It can really be applied to any facet of life. We learn from our mistakes.

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      alancaster149posted 9 months agoin reply to this

      Some of us do, others don't and keep making the same mistakes over and over (we call them wars).

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      shanmarieposted 9 months agoin reply to this

      Very true. I thought of history repeating itself even as I typed that. We're supposed to learn from mistakes, though, as part of survival.

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