CF Dictionary A reference for Critical Fallibilism

CF Dictionary · Error Correction & Learning

Error Rate

The rate at which you create new errors. CF treats it as a manageable variable relative to error-correction capacity.

Error rate is the rate at which you create new errors. CF treats it as a manageable variable relative to your error-correction capacity.

Error rate vs. correction rate

Two rates matter:

  • Error rate. Errors you create per unit time.
  • Correction rate. Errors you can fix per unit time.

If error rate > correction rate, you are in overreach and will accumulate unsolved errors indefinitely.

What affects error rate

  • Difficulty of the task. Harder tasks produce more errors.
  • Skill level. Skill reduces errors per task.
  • Fatigue, emotion, distraction. All increase errors.
  • Tools. Good tools reduce errors.

How CF recommends managing it

  1. Match task difficulty to skill. Don't overreach.
  2. Use practice to build skill, reducing error rate.
  3. Use objective-reasoning to spot errors early.
  4. Track budgets like time and energy.

"If your error rate exceeds your error correction rate, then you're doing stuff that's too hard for you." — criticalfallibilism.com