How a Little Bit of Knowledge Sometimes Robs us of our Power

They say knowledge is power but sometimes it’s exactly the opposite.

Recently I was at my six year old’s soccer game.  I watched as he gave up a goal, and later, ran around chasing the ball, fell down, got back up, laughing and joking with his buddies, running to get back into the next play.

After the game, I looked carefully for a sign that he was dejected, or depressed by having given up a few goals or falling down while chasing the ball, but there was no sign of him having had anything other than a good time.

Initially, this observation was somewhat baffling since in the adult world when we ‘fail’ we often have a negative response to the ‘failure’.  But in thinking about it further we realize that this is a learned phenomenon, one that we are not born with.  In nature, when a deer is attacked by a lion but gets away, when getting up, it shakes itself off thoroughly, and moves on, leaving the experience entirely behind.  It takes with it nothing–it retains no meaning about the experience.

Meaning Attached to ‘Failure’ is a Learned Phenomenon

In calling out this distinction between how nature and children respond to ‘failure’ compared to how adults often do, we recognize that in this specific instance, being a human with a higher level of knowledge actually leaves the human worse off.  Put another way, in obtaining the knowledge that ‘failure’ has meaning, the knowledge itself is an impediment, both in the aftermath of ‘failure’, and in never attempting new things because of what the supposed outcome might mean.  The Knowledge itself is the robber of our power.

So what does this all mean?

If you knew with perfect clarity that attaching meaning to failure is learned, what would change in your life?