The power of being wrong | Nilo Stefani | TEDxEscola Concept Ribeirão Preto

Nilo de Stéfani, speaking at TEDxEscola Concept Ribeirão Preto, examines why the fear of being wrong holds people back from learning and growing. He draws on his own experience with presentations and tennis matches, where anxiety about mistakes led him to consider giving up or sticking only to what felt safe. He reports a survey in his classroom in which 22 of 24 students said they shared the same fear. He also cites neuroscience research suggesting the brain works harder when correcting a mistake than when getting something right on the first try. The talk closes with the example of Albert Einstein, remembered for continually questioning accepted ideas and learning from being wrong.

• Fear of failure as a barrier to learning
• Personal examples from presentations and tennis
• Classroom survey: 22 of 24 students shared the fear
• Neuroscience on how the brain processes mistakes

In this TEDx presentation, Nilo de Stéfani addresses the power of being wrong, reflecting on how the fear of failure holds us back from learning and growing. The speaker shares his experience with previous presentations and tennis matches to illustrate how the anxiety of making mistakes led him to want to give up or stick strictly to what was comfortable. He also highlights a survey conducted in his own classroom, where 22 out of 24 students confirmed sharing that exact same fear, alongside neuroscience research, which demonstrates that the brain works harder when we make a mistake to correct it than when we get something right on the first try. De Stéfani invites the audience to rethink their relationship with failure through the story of Albert Einstein, remembered as one of history's greatest scientists not because he had all the answers, but because he continuously questioned accepted ideas and learned from being wrong. Grade 8 student at Escola Concept Ribeirão Preto This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx