The Luxury of Being Wrong

When failure is a privilege most can't afford

Dear Unlearners,

Being wrong is expensive.

Like most expensive things in life, only the rich can truly afford it.

We see it play out every day. Funded startups pivot three times before finding product-market fit. Trust fund babies spend years "finding themselves." Wealthy investors write off millions in bad bets as "learning experiences."

Meanwhile, regular people can't afford to learn from failure. They need to succeed now.

This isn't just about money. It's about the psychological freedom to experiment. To take risks. To fail without facing extinction.

The math is brutal:

• For the poor, mistakes compound. One wrong move cascades into a dozen problems. A late credit card payment leads to higher interest rates, which leads to paying more fees, which leads to less money for essentials, which leads to more debt.

• For the wealthy, mistakes are isolated. They might sting, but they don't threaten survival.

This is why "fail fast, fail often" is terrible advice for most people. It's luxury porn masquer…