Good thinking v. Bad Thinking

The history of the nuclear power industry is a prime example of what can happen because of bad thinking.  But it was good thinking that first brought it into existence.

So, in this context, what is meant by good thinking and bad thinking?  I've included a link here for a course in learning how to do good thinking.  I have a hunch that Einstein and others  knew how to think well, and their manner of thinking was similar to what is in the link here.

But what is bad thinking?  Here's a video that may counter the information about good thinking.  This gives a general sense of what good thinking is and bad thinking is.  But how does this relate to the nuclear power industry?

It should be obvious, I would think.  Bad thinking leads to bad outcomes, does it not?  A simple mistake is not necessarily bad thinking per se, but a series of mistakes that follows a pattern would be a good example of bad thinking.

Light water reactors have flaws in the design.  That should be obvious by now.  But it is to be expected that people will make mistakes.  From these mistakes, you can learn and improve.  Good thinking means learning from mistakes and improving.  Bad thinking is overreacting to a the consequences of a mistake and refusing to learn from it and making yet another mistake.

A molten salt reactor is a better design, but it was overlooked and ignored.  That was the mistake.  It would simply be yet another mistake to say that all reactors are unsafe and all radioactivity is bad.  To say something like that is ignoring the reality of radioactivity in the natural environment.  You can't get away from it.

It is like the discovering fire and saying that because fires can kill that all fires are bad and must be avoided at all times.  Obviously, that is bad thinking.  If you refused to use fire because it may hurt you, then you will have done more harm to yourself than what you may gain by avoiding it.  Where would you be without using fire?  The same is true about radioactivity.  The significance of radioactivity is the same as the significance of fire for mankind.  Both are potentially dangerous.  But both can do amazing things to improve the lives of people.

If you would think of it this way: radioactivity is just like fire, but much more powerful.  It is a fact of nature just as fire is.  Learning how to use it safely is a great advantage.  Ignoring its advantages is just bad thinking.  Learning how to use it safely is good thinking.

Nuclear power is a million times more powerful than chemical energy.  Fire is nothing more than chemical energy.  If fire is good, then radioactivity must be really, really good.  If nuclear energy is bad, then fire is bad.

But neither are bad.  They are what they are.  It is what people do with these things that make them good or bad.  These phenomena mean power.  Power can be abused.  But it is people who do the bad things.  The thing itself is neither good nor bad.