To the extent that animals have the ability to grow and learn as a species, they are limited to what instinct teaches them and what their experience teaches them. The problem with learning by experience is that some experience leads to death. This is a bit of a problem because either that animal or one of his animal friends must die so that he can learn the right thing to do.
Humans have an advantage. They can contend on the battlefield of ideas.
Ideas can go forth and die so that a human doesn’t have to. We must argue and debate and encourage and allow our ideas to be attacked from all angles.
This is, in a sense, trying to kill our idea. If the idea survives, it’s probably pretty good. If it dies, then we can learn–in a pretty harmless way–that the idea wasn’t quite as good as we thought.
Let ideas die so that not as many people die. Never shy away from sharing your ideas. And allow your ideas to be attacked.