Please give me one word for "someone who learns from others' mistakes". The word has escaped me for a while now. I've tried observant but it's still not cutting it for me.
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Perhaps student? Or child? – bib Sep 07 '13 at 19:19
4 Answers
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A wise person follows the "path through time immemorial" learning from others'mistakes.
Aluna
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3But that means a lot more that just "learning from others' mistakes", which is what the OP asked for. – TrevorD Sep 07 '13 at 11:41
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2It's difficult to answer such questions. Please refer to this http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/97456/a-word-or-phrase-for-someone-who-learns-from-their-mistakes – Sweet72 Sep 07 '13 at 12:32
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In simple English, A person who learns from other's mistakes may be called wise person
Sweet72
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1@Aluna has already given the same answer. Please include your own information in an answer, not just repeating what has already been said. – mikhailcazi Sep 07 '13 at 13:26
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I was going to respond intelligent, but this is an even better phrase. – Pieter Geerkens Sep 07 '13 at 15:32
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In plain English, a person who learns from other people's mistakes may be called a wise person. – Mari-Lou A Sep 07 '13 at 18:03
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1@mikhailcazi Oh, the irony of not learning from someone else's mistakes when trying to describe the right word for learning from someone else's mistakes. – Jack Ryan Sep 08 '13 at 19:19
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I can think of the following:
fast learner or quick learner
sagacious
assimilator (as in one who absorbs new experiences)
Of course one would have to provide the context to fully establish the meaning. But I think that the situation described is too specific for a totally apt single word.
user49727
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Circumspect has the primary meaning cautious (bordering perhaps on over-cautious), but probably still connotes 'weighing up what's happening around oneself' - perhaps close enough to 'learning from others' mistakes'. There's no agent noun.
Edwin Ashworth
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