Heh... I found that the most intelligent people I know have all learned a great deal by trying, failing, and trying something else, sometimes in very long strings of trying and failing loops.

To coin a phrase, we learn by our mistakes, which also means, some of our best decisions where made by mistake. 😀

Of course, it would be nice to forward those lessons learned to the younger generations but it's also human nature to want to try different things regardless of age (or at least it should be). You can't (and shouldn't) protect them from all failure. Under most circumstances and if treated properly, failure builds character and adds to wisdom.