Nothing Succeeds like Failure

[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz0AWtwdoA[/embedyt]Marquel TPVs NYTimes Failure Section correspondent was interviewing Zero Mostel’s offspring when he took a break to laugh and read The Benefits of Failing at French. Work out your brain by struggling to learn a new language. Failing has become the new succeeding.

Marquel read the story with astonishment. The writer claimed he spent a year and all his energies studying French but learned nothing. Turning questions about stupidity aside, Marquel wondered what would make a person to admit so publicly his failure. The author admitted that even children speak French, if they’re French if course, but he didn’t mention that even retarded children and adults have good command of French, again assuming they are French.

The author attributed his limitations to age but insisted that after wasting a year in pursuit of a goal he then abandoned, his mental abilities had soared. That was worth considering. Marquel once failed a course. He’s too sensible to say any more publicly, but he knew it didn’t do his grade point nor his brain any good.

But the Times seems to be saying that failure is the new success. And that was worth pondering. Especially because the Times writer pans to study Spanish next year AND TO FAIL!

So Marquel called the author and we had a sit down. He seemed a reasonable, even genial person. I asked why he thought failing was something to which we, or at least he, should aspire.

“You know it’s like to say that’s not what I wrote but I can see that in a way it is what I said.” He asserted.

“Do you think in this age of American failure that is a good message to trumpet?” I asked.

“But that’s not all I said.” He asserted, “I said principally that it is the effort expended that makes it worth it and that the effort alone has beneficial x consequences.”

“Then why not expend them on something that will matter? I think your message, however crippled in my eyes, gets lost in the facts of failure.”

He retreated. “Failure can be good.” He insisted.

“As good as success?” I wondered, believing I had him on the run.

“Well,” was all he said.

“Let’s take some examples,” I remarked. He seemed to agree. “A medical student decides to take anatomy and is determined to fail. Good? A mathematics major takes calculus determined to fail. Good?”

“I was talking about older people.” He protested.

“Okay have it your way,” I said. “An old guy as old as you and me combined wants to get his drivers license. He studies determined to fail. He ends up in the oldies home destined to never exit due to your philosophy. Another studies and works hard to learn how to use his electric wheelchair but, as planned, he fails. He has a friend in the home. They’re together forever. Better result?”

“You’ve misinterpreted me. They might learn from their failures and eventually pass. He said.

“But that’s not what you wrote. You didn’t say you learned from your failures and you’d learn French next time around. You celebrated your failures and planned to fail Spanish next time.” I attacked.

“Maybe I wasn’t as clear as I should have been.” He invited.

“So…” I paused for an insanely long time. I watched his face. His left eyelid suddenly had a twitch. I decided to strike. “So you’re not that good a writer? Let’s see, plans on failure, fails, can’t write and writes about failure. Doesn’t sound good does it?”

“That’s unfair,” he said.

“Perhaps but I’ll bet that’s the inevitable result of promoting failure in a society where success is tinsel measured in dollars and failure goes unrecognized as anything remarkable.”

He looked sad. He was certainly intending to lose his argument with me and with anyone else. That’s the nature of a commitment to failure.

***

BY MARQUEL: Nothing Succeeds like Failure