Between callous laughter on the one hand and a purposeful dilution of the word on the other, it’s clear that we fear failure — all the more because we’re so profoundly unfamiliar with it. And why shouldn’t we fear it? There’s nothing romantic about failure. It’s degrading, it’s stressful, it involves fear and shame and all kinds of unpleasant emotions with which we as a generation have had so little prior experience. It’s certainly possible to live a life without running the risk of failure, medicated by drugs, alcohol, cable TV, or any number of meaningless pursuits designed to blot out thought and emotion.
