Needed in 2009: More Failure

Is failure good?

Mr. Newman presents a pretty good argument for some benefits arising from failure.

Mr. Arthur Gittleman makes a valid point that 1929 did not benefit the economy, but that World War II did (or Hitler did, as he put it).

Like many of us, I have been following the economic news closely, though I have absolutely no special expertise in any facet of economics, finance, etc. Much of the dispute I've read has been over FDR's response to the Crash of '29, some saying it helped, some saying it didn't.

Let me suggest both are true. That is, through federal efforts such as the WPA and CCC, a great many people did indeed get back on the payroll -- and the nation benefited from their work in the form, for instance, of the Hoover Dam. On the other hand, as far as putting the economy back on the road to prosperity, Mr. Gittleman is absolutely correct. (Well, I already said I lack expertise; that's my take, anyway.)

Returning specifically to failure and its results. It's axiomatic that we *can* learn from our failures -- and the part that's both operational and problematic here is *can.*

I saw this countless times in my many years teaching English at university level on two continents, teaching it to both native speakers and non-native speakers. Naturally, sometimes even bright students failed (usually through overconfidence). But I found again and again and again that most students who failed then would sit down, whether with me, someone else, or by themselves, and *think* about just *why* they failed could come up with a plan to get past their particular barriers.

A case in point: early in my career, I had a freshman student who used absolutely not capital letters, paragraphing, or much punctuation, nor did he arrange his essays logically. Yet I recognized his very first essay as reflecting through the murk a hint of brilliance. I summoned him for a conference, and at first he resisted, but through naked appeal to his ego, he eventually came around. A year or so later he came to see me to show me his first publication, a poem in a minor poetry journal. And he went on to write several short stories that were published. No, he never hit a best-seller list (as far as I know; haven't seen him in decades), but his case is the case in point.

I realize that getting a kid to write a good essay is a very remote cry from trying to pull the national and global economy out of its downward spiral, but the principle of the value (or lack thereof) of failure apply on both the micro and macro levels, across the spectrum of disciplines.

Mr. Gittleman, if you're reading this, please don't take my remarks as being an attack on yours -- not at all. I mean no more than to present a view from a somewhat different angle, one that perhaps you haven't thought of before. (Or, maybe you have, and dismissed it!) ;-)

Mekhong Kurt of TX @ Feb 10, 2009 01:43:55 AM