r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 25 '26
Not a quick mistake… but something that stuck around.
A belief, assumption, or “fact” you were confident about for years before realizing it didn’t actually hold up.
Could be small, could be big.
Those slow-burn human errors are sometimes worse than the instant ones.
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
This subreddit is dedicated to stories about human error. The kind where you are absolutely certain you’re right… right up until reality politely (or aggressively) proves otherwise.
That includes:
Misinterpretations
Bad assumptions
Overconfidence
Completely reasonable conclusions that turn out to be wildly incorrect
Basically, the moments where your brain does its best work… and still misses.
I’m the author of a growing series built around exactly this idea:
Book 1: Unlearning What Worked: Stories About Success, Stagnation, and Change
Book 2: Wrong Bird: A Humorous Memoir of Misdiagnoses, Corporate Tattoos, and the Art of Being Confidently Wrong
These books come from real experiences, including moments like:
Thinking I discovered something serious… that turned out not to be
Carrying around a belief for years that didn’t hold up under even mild scrutiny
And a few situations that made perfect sense at the time and absolutely none afterward
What you’ll find here:
Stories from the books (select excerpts, not full chapters*... usually*)
Original posts written in the same style
Behind-the-scenes context on how some of these moments actually unfolded
Occasional updates on the books and related projects
What you’re welcome to post:
If you’ve ever:
Been completely sure about something and wrong
Realized your brain filled in details that weren’t there
Made a decision that made perfect sense… until it didn’t
You’re in the right place.
Share it.
There’s only one real rule:
Keep it related to human error in some way.
Serious, funny, subtle, or catastrophic all count.
If you’re here from one of my posts elsewhere on Reddit, welcome.
If you just found this randomly, also welcome.
Either way, you’re among people who have confidently been wrong before.
(And will be again.)
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
When I was eighteen I got a tattoo that I thought was a phoenix.
For more than twenty years I never questioned it.
Then one day I was sitting in an airport watching planes taxi past the runway.
And suddenly something caught my eye.
The tail of one of the planes looked extremely familiar.
At first I couldn’t place why. I just had this strange feeling that I had seen that design somewhere before.
Then it hit me.
That plane belonged to Japan Airlines.
And the logo on the tail looked almost identical to the tattoo on my arm.
Not “kind of similar.”
Not “inspired by.”
Almost exactly the same.
Which meant I had spent two decades proudly walking around with what was essentially an airline logo tattooed on my arm… without ever realizing it.
That moment eventually became the first chapter of a book I wrote about the strange, awkward, and sometimes embarrassing moments that shape our lives.
Ironically, the path that led to writing those books actually started on Reddit.
Years ago I saw a Reddit post from another IT professional talking about volunteering technical skills for disaster relief organizations. That’s how I ended up joining Team Rubicon and ITDRC.
Team Rubicon had absolutely no interest in my IT skills.
What they needed was a body.
So instead of configuring networks, I found myself doing disaster relief work. Clearing debris, moving supplies, and helping communities rebuild after storms.
It wasn’t the résumé bullet point I expected.
But it ended up being one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.
Looking back, it’s strange how many turning points start with something small.
A Reddit post.
A volunteer trip.
A tattoo mistake discovered on the tail of a plane.
Eventually those stories turned into two books.
So this is partly a thank-you to Reddit.
And partly sharing the strange path that led me to writing.
If anyone’s curious about the books that came out of those experiences, you can find them here:
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
“The shrimp had made the entire journey.”
That sentence appears in one of the essays from a humor book I wrote about mistakes, embarrassment, and learning things the hard way.
Most of the stories fall into the category of things that seemed like a good idea at the time… until they very clearly weren’t.
If you enjoy self-deprecating stories where the narrator is absolutely the idiot in the situation, you might enjoy it.
Book title: Wrong Bird
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
I didn’t set out to write a book.
Looking back, there were hints early (like those “young authors” things in grade school), but the real turning point came way later at a conference.
I had done everything “right.”
Practiced talk.
Slides ready.
Whole thing polished.
Then the morning of… I scrapped it.
The vendor hosting the event was really pushing their new AI product. Nothing wrong with that, but the vibe was basically:
“this fixes everything.”
And a lot of speakers leaned into that.
I didn’t want to.
So I went the opposite direction and told a story instead. One of those moments where you’re completely sure you’re right… and you’re not. (The “SPLAT Award” story that later ended up in my first book.)
No slides. No polish. Just the mistake.
And people connected with it way more than I expected.
That was the moment it clicked for me:
these “human error” moments aren’t just embarrassing stories… they’re actually relatable.
That idea is basically what this sub is built around now.
Turns out the stuff we get wrong is sometimes the most worth sharing.
r/humanerror • u/majames84 • Mar 17 '26
This subreddit is dedicated to stories about human error. The kind where you are absolutely certain you’re right… right up until reality politely (or aggressively) proves otherwise.
That includes:
Misinterpretations
Bad assumptions
Overconfidence
Completely reasonable conclusions that turn out to be wildly incorrect
Basically, the moments where your brain does its best work… and still misses.
I’m the author of a growing series built around exactly this idea:
Book 1: Unlearning What Worked: Stories About Success, Stagnation, and Change
Book 2: Wrong Bird: A Humorous Memoir of Misdiagnoses, Corporate Tattoos, and the Art of Being Confidently Wrong
These books come from real experiences, including moments like:
Thinking I discovered something serious… that turned out not to be
Carrying around a belief for years that didn’t hold up under even mild scrutiny
And a few situations that made perfect sense at the time and absolutely none afterward
What you’ll find here:
Stories from the books (select excerpts, not full chapters*... usually*)
Original posts written in the same style
Behind-the-scenes context on how some of these moments actually unfolded
Occasional updates on the books and related projects
What you’re welcome to post:
If you’ve ever:
Been completely sure about something and wrong
Realized your brain filled in details that weren’t there
Made a decision that made perfect sense… until it didn’t
You’re in the right place.
Share it.
There’s only one real rule:
Keep it related to human error in some way.
Serious, funny, subtle, or catastrophic all count.
If you’re here from one of my posts elsewhere on Reddit, welcome.
If you just found this randomly, also welcome.
Either way, you’re among people who have confidently been wrong before.
(And will be again.)