Criticism or Compliments?

Written By Sanskriti Aradhya

Albert Einstein was once writing the 9 times tables on a chalkboard while his students were watching. None of them reacted to this; it was just an ordinary class. When Einstein got to ‘9x10’, he wrote 91, the correct answer obviously being 90. Immediately his class broke out into laughter. He paused and turned around waiting for his students to calm themselves and began speaking. “I wrote 9 out of the 10 equations correctly and no one congratulated me. Yet, when I made a mistake on this one answer, you all began to laugh.”

Why do we do this? Why do we worry about others’ mistakes when we ourselves make them? Everyone makes mistakes, we’re only human after all. This may sound like a reasonable way of thinking; it’s only natural to make mistakes. However, when it comes to things that other people have created, we all are bound to be envious.

Whilst looking at other people’s accomplishments, we may feel that if we had done the job, we would receive the same amount of applause and compliments. Thus, leading us to look for the smallest of mistakes that people make (even if it's something really silly) just to prove that they themselves haven’t done anything too special. It is important to remind ourselves that everyone makes mistakes. No one is picture perfect.

Going back to Einstein, his students felt a sense of equality with him when they noticed his mistake. The Albert Einstein made a mistake as simple as this? He isn’t that extraordinary, he’s just like us:a normal human who makes mistakes.

Of course, this doesn’t imply that every person thinks the same—only that it is a popular opinion. I believe that we should all embrace our mistakes, support each other, and learn to grow from it. Next time you see someone, share their accomplishment, appreciate their efforts while pointing out errors. We all are human, and we must remember that no one can be flawless, though what’s more important is making an effort to improve.

As Albert Einstein once said:

“The only person who never makes a mistake is someone who never tries”