“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” can be read in the Book of Proverbs (16:18). You don’t have to be a religious person to appreciate the validity of this wisdom with respect to all people, including ourselves.
It is human nature to go to extremes. When the mind finds itself in an impasse, it usually blames not itself for its earlier decisions, but some higher power that has unjustly turned against it. On the contrary, if circumstances are strikingly lucky and with one touch he turns banal metals into gold, the mind is inclined to attribute all laurels exclusively to itself in a narcissistic impulse. To get away with any responsibility, preserving all the privileges — this is the ideal of the arrogant mind. Curiously, the higher the IQ, the more likely this behavior is.
And that would be all right, but in both extremes, the mind becomes more and more withdrawn into its fantasy world, distancing itself from reality as it is. No matter how brilliant the mind may be, it cannot foresee all the scenarios of a changing environment. Moreover, as established in physics, the very act of observing a system inevitably changes it. And anything that violates the desired picture of the world, the mind ignores, rejects or even tries to eradicate. The skyscraper of the intellect grows taller and more complex, but there is no cornerstone in the foundation. So the more often the statement, “I know it all myself,” comes closer to disaster in every sphere — business, sports, family, and life in general.
Solomon points out the direction of the solution in the following verse: “Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud”. So, to survive and thrive, it is important not only to tame your pride, but to seek out partners to keep a strong connection to reality.
Yours sincerely,
