In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility

Achievement culture is overrated, argues philosopher Bradatan (The God Beat) in this sobering takedown. He posits that “how we relate to failure defines us” and suggests that personal imperfections, the dissolution of political systems, and awareness of mortality (“the ultimate failure”) engender humility, which can kickstart a process of transformation and betterment. Case studies in failure include how French philosopher Simone Weil’s clumsiness meant she was unable to meet quotas at her factory jobs, which inadvertently showed “how to break the deadening patterns” of modern life that treat people like machines. Ancient Athenian democracy, Bradatan posits, built humility into their political system through the practice of voting out citizens thought to be on their way to demagoguery, an acknowledgement of the danger posed by voters’ susceptibility to failures of reason. Other anecdotes discuss the disappointment of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Gandhi’s inauspicious academic record, and Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran’s principled idleness, pointing toward the conclusion that the “more you fail, the better your chance to realize your worth.” The ideas are boldly counterintuitive, and the illuminating historical examples complicate what it means to succeed. This is, ironically enough, a triumph. (Jan.)