Fallibility

Fallibility refers to the capacity to make mistakes or be erroneous. It is a fundamental aspect of human cognition and of complex systems, including science, institutions, and technology. A fallible state means beliefs, perceptions, memories, and judgments can be wrong, and knowledge claims may be revised in light of new evidence.

Fallibility can be categorized as cognitive, epistemic, moral, or institutional. Cognitive fallibility includes perception errors, memory distortions, and faulty reasoning. Epistemic fallibility concerns belief formation and justification. Moral fallibility involves errors in ethical judgment, while institutional fallibility refers to failures in organizations or procedures.

Causes include cognitive biases, incomplete information, time pressure, overconfidence, and social influence. Memory reconstruction and noisy data further predispose error. The consequences range from minor misjudgments to serious harms, but recognizing fallibility supports learning and safeguards against persistent mistakes.

In philosophy, fallibilism is the view that knowledge is provisional and corrigible. Associated with Charles Peirce and other pragmatists, it holds that certainty is elusive and that belief systems should be open to revision in light of new evidence.

Mitigation strategies include critical thinking, transparent methods, replication, peer review, and error reporting. These practices aim to reduce errors and improve reliability, while maintaining openness to revision.

Examples of fallibility include eyewitness memory errors, misinterpretation of data, measurement mistakes, and biases in automated systems.