"When I speak of reason or rationalism, all I mean is the conviction that we can learn through criticism of our mistakes and errors, especially through criticism by others, and eventually also through self-criticism. A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others — not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the ideas of others. The emphasis here is on the idea of criticism or, to be more precise, critical discussion. The genuine rationalist does not think that he or anyone else is in possession of the truth; nor does he think that mere criticism as such helps us achieve new ideas. But he does think that, in the sphere of ideas, only critical discussion can help us sort the wheat from the chaff. He is well aware that acceptance or rejection of an idea is never a purely rational matter; but he thinks that only critical discussion can give us the maturity to see an idea from more and more sides and to make a correct judgement of it." - Karl Popper, 'All Life is Problem Solving' (1999)
Karl Popper'a method influences me. I consider errors identified as the main (perhaps only) way to be less wrong.
But he does think that, in the sphere of ideas, only critical discussion can help us sort the wheat from the chaff.
So you can't learn from mistakes if you don't discuss the issue at hand with other people?
Mark Friedenbach's post Leaving LessWrong for a more rational life makes a few criticisms of the way LW approaches rationality. It's not focused enough on empiricism. While he grants that there's lip service payed to empiricism Mark argues that LW isn't empiric enough.
Part of empiricism is learning from errors. How do you deal with learning from your own errors? What was the last substantial errors you made that made you learn and think differently about the issue in question?
Do you have a framework for thinking about the issue of learning through errors? Do you have additional questions regarding the issue of learning through errors that are worth exploring?