On Addictions to Being Right
“Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all. “
~Thomas Szasz,
Author, Professor of Psychiatry (1920- )
Thanks to Jason for finding this nugget.
April 15th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Tell that to my 83 year old mother who learned, pretty much on her own, how to use a computer at the age of 70 and, I might add, is pretty good at it! Uses it every day. Checks her bank accounts online. Learning requires curiosity and an adventuresome spirit. Age has nothing to do with it. … In my humble opinion anyway.
April 15th, 2005 at 6:45 am
Perhaps she is the exception and not the rule. We’ve got good learning genes right? However, to me the quote relates more to learning and assimilating new information that effects our worldview. Like I alludeded to in the headline to this post, we are addicted to being correct. We love to correct others and demonstrate our mastery of the complexities of this world. However, when we encounter something new, it causes some cognitive dissonance. At that point, we have a choice to allow the “…injury… to self esteem” or waive our hand and dismiss it. It’s those that can humbly weather the injury and accordingly change their worldview that truly learn.
April 15th, 2005 at 8:38 pm
I respectfully disagree. Guess I’m “addicted to being correct.” It just seems to me that some things are obvious. Sort of reminds me of the “Emperor’s New Clothes.” To say “older persons … cannot learn at all” for whatever reason, is simply not true.
Take Colonel Sanders, for example. Harland Sanders spent the majority of his first 65 years bouncing from job to job, trying to make something of himself. By the time he collected his first social security check, he had yet to strike it big. But that all changed when he moved his family to Kentucky to run a gas station. The station’s 6-seat dining room proved to be the Colonel’s first success. His down home cooking made him somewhat of a local celebrity, but he was forced out of business when a new highway came through. He was left with nothing but his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. At 65, Sanders hit the road to franchise his recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken. In less than 10 years, Sanders built an empire of more than 600 outlets. He sold his company in 1964 and the stock skyrocketed.
Talk about “accommodating new ideas!”
I’m sure there are countless other success stories relative to “older persons.” And, I cannot imagine what life would be like for me after I retire if I didn’t continue to learn new things.
And yes, I agree, we certainly do have good genes.
April 16th, 2005 at 12:39 am
You forgot to mention the fact that the Colonel practically runs the Pentaverate.
April 16th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
Mike Myers??? Ok. I give. What does pentaverate mean? (She asked, suffering an injury to her self esteem.) Couldn’t find it in the dictionary and could not derive a clear meaning from the quote you cited. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! (All the while scratching her head trying to figure out what “You forgot to mention the fact that the Colonel practically runs the Pentaverate” has to do with the the theory that “older persons … cannot learn at all.”
April 17th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
The quote is not about how older people cannot learn. It is about the nature of learning itself.
April 17th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
Hmmmmm.
“… and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all. ”
I must be too literal.
April 17th, 2005 at 10:46 pm
For me, the old vs. young portion is merely an example. The important bit is our willingness to accept new information at the expense of our heretofore held views (and our ego).
I agree, the language used is unfortunate. (Which I guess limits its usefulness as a succinct, densly packed chunk of wisdom.) Taking out the qualifier “especially if vain or important” leaves the statement “older people cannot learn at all”. This, I do not agree with.
April 18th, 2005 at 5:15 am
Interesting commentary going on here. As long as we all want to be right, I guess I can chime in. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s was actually the one who franchised Kentucky Fried Chicken for the Colonel. And…wasn’t he a much younger man at the time?
Just a tidbit I read in Dave Thomas’ book.
Good luck figuring out who is right in this one. I think I will stay comfortable neutral on the rest of the issue,but I will add the one small observation that watching my daughter learn is amazing. If I could learn as much as she does in a day or a week at this point I think I would easily be judged a genius. She is like a sponge and I feel more like a dried up prune.
April 18th, 2005 at 10:40 pm
I agree, Gary. Sure would be interesting to know how old (now old) Professor Szasz was when he made this observation. ~ And to know if he still believes it.
It’s been an interesting banter, Gar.
Parenting, Jason … what fun, eh?
Love you guys!