Dear barrys-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. Trying to compile a list consisting of the top 100 biggest
mistakes ever would be possible I suppose, but in the end it would be
strictly a matter of opinion about as to what qualifies as ?big?, and
of course, according to which story you tend to believe, what
qualifies as a ?mistake?.
Having said that, I can find well over 100 big mistakes (some
historical and some not so well known) made by folks in this
complicated old world, but which ones top should the list will
probably be determined in retrospect long after you and I have become
part of history ourselves:
Here is a list of 42 world-class errors that I think everyone will
agree are fine examples of some of history?s biggest gaffes and
miscalculations:
THE WORLD?S GREATEST MISTAKES AWARDS 2000
http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~antares/lemmings/lemmings.html
Sometimes it is we, the bystanders, who unwittingly makes the biggest
blunder. Here are 117 well-publicized hoaxes that hooked hundreds (and
in some cases millions) of gullible people. Some of them are just
plain dumb, but there are many instances of historical significance
here dating back before the 1700?s (see the links to other year?s
hoaxes on the right side of the page)
MUSEUM OF HOAXES
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoaxes17.html
These examples of mistakes made by the average person (which number in
the hundreds) may not rate historical greatness, but they certainly
rate right up there with the biggest ?personal? blunders in the world,
if not the most awe-inspiring stupidity ever displayed by a group of
bi-peds (they also make for hours of hilarious entertainment, by the
way):
THE DARWIN AWARDS
http://www.darwinawards.com/
You might want to begin here: http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/
If historical idiocy is of primary interest, you might want to look
here too: http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/index_darwin1994.html
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
Defined above
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
GREATEST MISTAKES, BIGGEST BLUNDERS, GRAVEST MISTAKES, BIGGEST
MISCALCULATIONS, MOST SERIOUS MISTAKES, HOAXES, ERRORS, GAFFES,
ACCIDENTS |
Request for Answer Clarification by
barrys-ga
on
07 Dec 2003 02:54 PST
Hi. I certanly appreciate you research. To further clarify, I am
looking for real life examples of good, innocent people who made
mistakes, because they didn't forsee the consequences. I find the
darwin site site be far to cynical to be of any use. The other site is
just too vague.
I realize that this is a difficult request, but if you can come across
2 or 3 stories of mistakes that were avoidable, I would greatly
appreiciate it.
Thanks,
Barry
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Clarification of Answer by
tutuzdad-ga
on
07 Dec 2003 10:00 PST
Dear barrys-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
Probably the most appropriate example, on this December 7th, of a
terrible, real-life tragedy that could have been easily avoided if
more people had not made seemingly minor mistakes along the way, is
that of Pearl Harbor. This fine essay seems to outline most, if not
all of them:
?PEARL HARBOR: THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED?
http://www.instant-essays.com/world_history/pearl-harbor.shtml
A horrific, and all too common tragedy, is that of accidental infant
suffocation, asphyxiation, and heat exhaustion. While the older child
in this first example was far too young to have predicted the
consequences, there are literally hundreds of other examples out there
depicting well intentioned parents and siblings who accidentally cause
the death of a little one because they simply did not THINK in advance
of their actions (lying something on a child, leaving a child in a hot
car, co-sleeping and accidentally smothering a child in the night,
etc)
WXPI (child accidentally suffocated by sibling)
http://www.wpxi.com/news/2667778/detail.html
WESH (child forgotten in hot car)
http://www.wesh.com/news/2405682/detail.html
HONOLULU ADVERTISER (child forgotten in hot car)
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Oct/16/ln/ln05a.html
HOLDING DEATH IN MY ARMS (playmates forgot toddler playmate near water)
http://jrcm.faithweb.com/truth/i_deadraised.html
Here are some examples of well-intentioned people whose religious
beliefs led them to withhold medical attention to someone who was
seriously ill and opt instead for faith healing, resulting in the
death of a loved one. While ?mistake? might not be the appropriate
word, since these people sincerely believed that a higher power would
save the victim and, if death resulted, it was due to the greater will
of a deity, others among us may certainly considered this an avoidable
fatal error that could have easily been avoided if only someone had
more thoroughly considered the ramifications of their actions:
DEATH BY RELIGIOUS EXCEMPTION
http://www.masskids.org/dbre/dbre_6.html
FAITH HEALING: CHILD ABUSE, TORTURE, AND HOMICIDE
http://www.peopleunitedforreligiousfreedom.org/faithhealing.htm
I hope these real-life examples prove to be of more value to you for your purposes.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
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