"step 1. make a mistake and learn from it
step 2. repeat step until enlightenment occurs"

I couldn't agree more, or imagine a better way of dealing with the universe. But I know so many people who can't get all the way through step one, because they think that if they didn't get the desired result it's because everyone else is so obtuse. I suspect it's a result of what you were saying about ignorance and fallibility being vilified. It's hard for human beings to believe that "no" is as useful as "yes" when it comes to information, because it's too easy to believe that those two words correspond to "wrong" and "right" respectively. Formal education frequently reinforces that belief.