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==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] deffeten, from Anglo-French defait, past participle of defaire, desfaire to destroy, from Medieval Latin disfacere, from [[Latin]] dis- + facere to do
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: To unmake, undo, do away with; to ruin, destroy.
*2: To destroy the [[vigor]] or [[vitality]] of; to cause to [[waste]] or languish; pa. pple. wasted, withered.
*3: To destroy the [[beauty]], [[form]], or figure of; to disfigure, deface, spoil.
*4: Hunting. To cut up (an animal).
*5: To bring to nought, cause to fail, frustrate, nullify (a [[plan]], [[purpose]], scheme, etc.).
*6: Law. To render null and void, to annul.
*7: a. To do (a [[person]]) out of (something [[expected]], or naturally coming to him); to [[disappoint]], defraud, cheat.
:b. To deprive of (something one already possesses); to dispossess.
*8: To discomfit or overthrow in a contest; to [[vanquish]], beat, gain the [[victory]] over
==Description==
'''Failure''' refers to the [[state]] or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the [[opposite]] of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the [[product]] to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to [[personal]] [[injury]], the province of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_engineering forensic engineering].
==Failure in science==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Watson Thomas J. Watson] is attributed with saying "If you want to succeed, double your failure rate". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_(magazine) Wired Magazine] editor Kevin Kelly likewise explains that a great deal can be learned from [[things]] going unexpectedly, and that part of [[science]]'s success comes from keeping blunders "small, manageable, constant, and trackable". He uses the example of engineers and programmers who push [[systems]] to their [[limits]], breaking them to [[learn]] about them. Kelly also warns against creating a [[culture]] (e.g. school system) that punishes failure harshly, because this inhibits a [[creative]] [[process]], and risks teaching people not to [[communicate]] important failures with others (e.g. Null results).
==Criteria for failure==
The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on [[context]] of use, and may be [[relative]] to a particular [[observer]] or [[belief]] system. A situation [[considered]] to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct [[competition]] or a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_sum zero-sum game]. Similarly, the [[degree]] of success or failure in a situation may be [[differently]] viewed by distinct [[observers]] or [[participants]], such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.
It may also be [[difficult]] or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for failure or success due to [[ambiguous]] or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic heuristics], to judge the success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure]
[[Category: General Reference]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] deffeten, from Anglo-French defait, past participle of defaire, desfaire to destroy, from Medieval Latin disfacere, from [[Latin]] dis- + facere to do
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: To unmake, undo, do away with; to ruin, destroy.
*2: To destroy the [[vigor]] or [[vitality]] of; to cause to [[waste]] or languish; pa. pple. wasted, withered.
*3: To destroy the [[beauty]], [[form]], or figure of; to disfigure, deface, spoil.
*4: Hunting. To cut up (an animal).
*5: To bring to nought, cause to fail, frustrate, nullify (a [[plan]], [[purpose]], scheme, etc.).
*6: Law. To render null and void, to annul.
*7: a. To do (a [[person]]) out of (something [[expected]], or naturally coming to him); to [[disappoint]], defraud, cheat.
:b. To deprive of (something one already possesses); to dispossess.
*8: To discomfit or overthrow in a contest; to [[vanquish]], beat, gain the [[victory]] over
==Description==
'''Failure''' refers to the [[state]] or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the [[opposite]] of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the [[product]] to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to [[personal]] [[injury]], the province of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_engineering forensic engineering].
==Failure in science==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_J._Watson Thomas J. Watson] is attributed with saying "If you want to succeed, double your failure rate". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_(magazine) Wired Magazine] editor Kevin Kelly likewise explains that a great deal can be learned from [[things]] going unexpectedly, and that part of [[science]]'s success comes from keeping blunders "small, manageable, constant, and trackable". He uses the example of engineers and programmers who push [[systems]] to their [[limits]], breaking them to [[learn]] about them. Kelly also warns against creating a [[culture]] (e.g. school system) that punishes failure harshly, because this inhibits a [[creative]] [[process]], and risks teaching people not to [[communicate]] important failures with others (e.g. Null results).
==Criteria for failure==
The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on [[context]] of use, and may be [[relative]] to a particular [[observer]] or [[belief]] system. A situation [[considered]] to be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in cases of direct [[competition]] or a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_sum zero-sum game]. Similarly, the [[degree]] of success or failure in a situation may be [[differently]] viewed by distinct [[observers]] or [[participants]], such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation.
It may also be [[difficult]] or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for failure or success due to [[ambiguous]] or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic heuristics], to judge the success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure]
[[Category: General Reference]]