By LUCIANO NASCIMENTO*
There is an almost shallow morality permeating the idea that, in general, in everyday life, it is much easier to be wrong than to be right.
They say that “the Devil is dangerous because he is old.” Despite the possible philosophical validity of the aphorism, it is understandable that its Judeo-Christian roots send shivers down the spines of those who are minimally informed about the latest news about Gaza or the actions of the carcinogenic Brazilian “evangelical caucus.”
So perhaps it is worth seeking a less orthodox version of the maxim; perhaps something like “evil knows all the shortcuts”. Still, there is an almost shallow morality permeating the (only apparently simple) idea that, in general, in everyday life, it is much easier to make mistakes than to make the right ones.
The simplicity of the idea is only apparent because, unfortunately, the error is not a commodity any. In addition to the difficult-to-define nature – what is “certainly wrong”, after all, outside the exactitude of pure mathematics? –, the price of error varies greatly, subject to many variables and few constants.
O continuum Time-space is one of these variables; the agent of the criticized action is also one. At the crossroads of these two vectors, the sensitive point is: some people, in certain times-spaces, if they make a mistake, they generate a tragedy. In practice, this is equivalent to saying: a mistake A, if committed by B, in a circumstance C, has a cost D (sometimes more, sometimes less measurable); but, this same mistake A, if committed by X, in the same circumstance C… implodes the equation, brings everything down.
The bottom line is that the cost of a “combo” of mistakes can be so high that simply risking making a mistake is not an option. It is necessary to avoid the situation at all costs, not even flirt with it, not even consider the possibility that, after all, it is not what it really is – a mistake, after all. And this is where time plays a crucial role again: it is expected that, as time passes, people will understand this complex existential contingency (the need to contain some of their own impulses) and, consciously, will start to make fewer mistakes.
Deep down, it is also a moral issue. Hence its easy capture by religion, evident in the infamous and ageist reference to the age of the Judeo-Christian devil: old as he is, he himself would have made many mistakes and, therefore, would know where and how to make people – who, obviously, are younger than him, “the devil”, the “bad thing”, the “dog” – make mistakes…
Of course, setting aside the ageist blackmail and youthful romanticism (despite being disguised as old age), it is clear that greater age is not and has never been an unequivocal synonym for greater wisdom, just as pure information or knowledge – no matter how good and sophisticated they may be – do not guarantee immunity to error. “To err is human” and the cliché is as overused as it is true.
But then, if making mistakes is inevitable, what should we do? Close our eyes and just give in to “enjoying life like crazy”? No, it’s not quite like that – it seems.
Making mistakes is inevitable; however, not every mistake is. New, unusual mistakes, those arising from unexpected or unknown circumstances… these mistakes are almost always inevitable; old, familiar, famous and intimate mistakes, commonplace… these are not.
Is it true that infallibility is not a predicate that can be achieved by human beings? Yes, it is. However, it is also legitimate to expect some people to have greater discernment regarding what the community in which they are inserted has conventionally called “right” or “wrong”. After all, not everyone navigates this world equally blindly – despite the tidal wave and the white typhoon with which reading José Saramago can lash out at this statement.
Finally, in the general equation of avoidable failures, apart from the most idiosyncratic ones, an essential variable is time-space, another is the agent, and another is, without a doubt, the age of the error. Old errors cannot be corrected; the cost is almost always too high; sometimes, incalculable.
* Luciano Nascimento He is a teacher of basic technical and technological federal education at Colégio Pedro II.
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