Learning is a peculiar process. Peculiar because typically, when it comes to important things, people learn through trial and error. Take for example trying to defrost hot dog buns in the microwave. What did I know? I stuck the whole bag--note: plastic bag with aluminum twist tie--into the microwave and hit go. Thank God there was a fire extinguisher in the kitchen or else the house might have burnt down. In my twelve-year-old infinite wisdom, I learned rather quickly that plastic with aluminum and a microwave don't mix or else things go "boom." Imagine that, only once and I got that lesson down pat.

Some people never learn, though. You’d think once you got your hand seared on the stove one or two times, you wouldn’t do it again. Nope. The pain, the scars and the stigma of being a general idiot don’t seem to stick with some people. Take for example, Paris Hilton. How many times will she have to be in trouble and arrested and mugshot and fingerprinted before she learns to 1) fly under the radar, 2) stop using drugs and 3) generally stop giving blondes a bad name? I don’t know about you, but if I had to go through a DUI ordeal and have to look through plate glass or iron bars for almost a month I would have a complete “come to Jesus” moment and reverse my life 180 degrees. Sounds reasonable, no?

The same goes for sex tapes. If you’re a star, heck, even if you aren’t one, why would you make a sex tape if you didn’t—somewhere in the back of your mind—think that this tape would be seen by someone other than you? At the very least, it’ll be seen by your partner. And if you’re in the public light or just want to protect your reputation, you should never make one—it’s a little something called common sense. And further, even if you had a momentary lapse of judgment fueled by some liquid intoxication or the equivalent thereof, you certainly wouldn’t broadcast the existence of such evidence to the world after you sober up. Unless you live in a moral vacuum, have no qualms or reservations or fears about people talking about your bare behind or your relatives getting a handle on that red-hot evidence of your inferiority or some similar nightmarish situation, then you should not make such a tape.  Unless, of course, you are Kim Kardashian or Montana Fishburne or Heidi and Spencer Pratt, then you’ll make a tape for the sole purpose of making yourself feel like you’re good at something. Ouch. I know. That was a low blow. Oh, well!

This concept of recidivism or, more simply, repeat-offending isn’t new. In fact, people constantly make the same mistake twice. The main problem though is that when your mistakes involve serious legal punishment or social castigation and/or embarrassment, then they shouldn’t be repeated. If Nicole Richie can learn her lesson, anyone can, right? I bet Tiger Woods will think twice before he whips out his stick and tees off with some floozy.  So too will Eliot Spitzer and Jesse James…the list goes on. I can’t wait to see who will next make the front page of the tabloids for their crimes of repeat stupidity.