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You seem to think these people stupid instead of stubborn humans who don’t care about what your definition of “self aware” is. I’m sure these people think your way of thinking is odd as well.

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I think it's similar to short term reward vs delayed gratification (see the marshmallow experiment[0]). By refusing to admit you've ever made mistakes, you can protect your ego in the short term. However, you're also alienating people and preventing learning from taking place. That has a long-term cost in terms of missed or lost opportunities.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experimen...

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