How often do you do something and know simultaneously that it is an error?

It’s something that does happen, and when it does it usually is a sense or intuition that appears while acting. It’s an intuition that fails to stop or alert us.

A very different situation is when one notices in hindsight that something has been an error.

The question then is, if the data available at the time of action allowed to know the outcome beforehand.

If not, what can be learned from the outcome?

If yes, what data has been discounted?

Answering these questions may lead to a very different understanding of the situation as it has been. And yet, people often stick to the answer “It was an error.”