Genius, pt. IX

At the end of Eric Weiner’s trip in Florence for “The Geography of Genius,” he found out that one of the reasons the Renaissance happened in Florence was because people at that place and time had a lot of chances to fail.

“Failure – sometimes of the spectacular variety – occurred regularly. This did not dissuade people from taking risks; if anything, it encouraged more, as a new artist, or a new generation, aimed to get it just right. Like Athens and Hangzhou, Florence was a restless place. It never said, ‘Good enough.'”

It is about making mistakes again and how important it is to a person who wants to achieve something. I’ve written about it before so I’m not going to write about it again, but I think it’s important that we remember that it’s alright to make mistakes (and make imperfect sentences when we’re speaking in English or any language).

But trying to get something right when we make mistakes, the way we act when we experience failure, is equally important. I think it is what really makes us learn and maybe even be more creative.