In July 1991, the British physicist Andrew G. Lyne and two of his colleagues published a paper in the prestigious science journal, Nature, claiming that they had discovered a planet orbiting around a neutron star. It was considered a major discovery. But six months later, on 15 January 1992, before a crowd of astronomers who had gathered for a conference where Lyne was supposed to make a presentation of his discovery, he admitted that he had made a mistake in his calculations and the planet did not really exist. As he finished admitting his mistake the scientists gave him a standing ovation. John Bahcall, an astrophysicist who was at the meeting said that “it was the most honorable thing I have ever seen.”
All of us make mistakes. However, we are often reluctant to admit our mistakes. We find it difficult because we feel ashamed. We think that to admit being wrong is to admit before others that we are incompetent and amateurish. This, we believe will make us lose face in front of others hurting our self-esteem. We fear that admitting mistakes will have negative consequences: others will look down upon us, we will be made fun of, we might lose the trust of others, and we might even be punished. Being reluctant to admit mistakes we try to cover it up, attempt to justify it or worse, lie about it.
Jose Kuttianimattathil, sdb
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