<p>PROMPT: Do people learn more from losing than winning?</p>
<p>January 6th, 2011<br>
Start: 11:21 PM<br>
End: 11:43 PM</p>
<pre><code>Not everyone can win. Realistically, in order for someone to win, someone else has to lose. This invariably holds true in the corporate world, where myriad companies are vying for the top spot in their respective markets. Despite the instinctive feelings of aversion toward defeat, corporate companies, in fact, benefit from losses and mistakes preventive measures are taken and mistakes are learned from.
In the case of the technology giant Google, losses have proved to be especially beneficial. In 2010, the gargantuan technology company was discovered to have violated the privacy of its users by collecting personal information, supposedly inadvertently. Regardless of the intentions, Google soon faced a barrage of criticism and suspicion from international agencies in a multitude of countries. Privacy watchdogs from France and Britain quickly took action and launched a series of investigations into the companys controversial practice. Lawsuits were filed, and Google was forced to pay a large sum to a number of nations who demanded justice, one of which included Germany. Even the home country of Google, the United States, launched investigations into how such a detrimental bug was not discovered earlier.
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<p>Quickly recovering itself after the surprising discovery, Google apologized for the bug in its system, and assured that none of the personal information was at risk, solemnly promising to eradicate all traces of the collected data immediately. After this public announcement, Google quickly patched up the faulty algorithm in its online services and ordered engineers in the company to scout out any other bugs that might have resulted as well. New preventive measures were implemented, such as the safety net in Google Maps and an Incognito browsing mode in Google Chrome. Simply because of losses of millions of dollars and massive criticism by agencies and users alike, Google was able to improve its products to ensure better service in the future. </p>
<p>In the long run, companies that suffer losses learn more and are able to prevent the same mistakes from happening again. The sense of urgency and alert or even guilt that arises up when companies make mistakes leads to a more productive and competitive atmosphere, where preventive measures are set in place and mistakes are learned from. With the continuing rise and advancement of the Internet today, heaven knows such cautious practices are needed more than ever today.</p>
<p>Thanks ahead of time! Any suggestions are welcome as well!</p>