97. Tversky attributes some his success in life to his indifference to embarrassment.
As his friend Avishai Margalit puts it, "Amos thought people paid an enormous price to avoid mild embarrassment . . . and he himself decided very early on it was not worth it" (97).
Would you say that a fear of mild embarrassment has ever held you back? Have you ever found a way to overcome your mild embarrassment and been thankful for it?
I think yes and no. Mainly it depended on who I was with. If I was with my close friends, I typically wasn't afraid of a little embarrassment. On the other hand, if I was with lots of people that I had not been around much, I would probably be more reserved and more likely to avoid any embarrassment. I guess I haven't ever thought about if I was thankful or not for not always being afraid of mild embarrassment, but now that I think about it, I think I am very thankful for it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I have never been afraid when I am around my very close friends and family. But being around new people I tend to be more reserved and closed off due to wanting them not be judge me. Or for me to embarrass myself, because I am prone to doing so.
DeleteMorgan Anderson
I have certainly let a fear of mild embarrassment hold me back at some point or another. I am a rather self-conscious and reserved person, and I can easily become embarrassed. Because of this, I usually try hard to avoid it. However, I would say that I found ways to overcome my fear of embarrassment this past year at college. With some encouragement from family and friends, I opened myself up to new experiences that I may not have tried in the past, and I am very thankful for this. These experiences did not only enrich my first year of college but also made it more enjoyable and memorable.
ReplyDeleteI would say that yes, my fear of mild embarrassment has held me back many times. When I was in younger grades, I would not be apt to participate in games and generally fun things in StuCo, or class. Growing older, I had to realize that sometimes looking stupid is part of the fun, and that no one cares what I do. Being involved is more fun than sitting on the sideline. I now work to keep myself involved, and sometimes it is not easy, as I am shy.
DeleteBethany, I am also a very self-conscious and reserved person, so I understand! It takes guts to get over the fear of embarrassment.
I have let embarrassment hold me back a couple of times in my life. Most of the time I do not care that much if I embarrass myself. I think it has a lot to do with who I am around. If am with my friends, then I do not care really, I will be myself because I am comfortable. On the other hand, if I am with people that I do not know very well then, I am more reserved and am a little afraid of embarrassing myself.
ReplyDelete-Anna Herd
There have been times where a fear of embarrassment has stopped me from doing certain tasks, but I normally do not let my embarrassment get in the way of my goals. I cope with my embarrassment by finding humor in it. For instance, during the spring semester, I was working as a teacher assistant and was helping a group of students with their lab work. One part of the assignment was to put leaves into a syringe and to pull on the syringe, making a vacuum, to remove the air from the leaves. I was showing them how to do the procedure, and holding a conversation with another student, when I lost focus and made the syringe burst, spilling water everywhere. I was very embarrassed, but I laughed it off and continued to help the students. If I let my embarrassment get the best of me, I would have never worked as a teacher assistant and gained the knowledge and great memories I have today.
ReplyDelete-Alejandro Arriaga
I try to avoid mild embarrassment almost to a fault. To my brain, the extra ten steps I have to take in order to not experience that mild embarrassment is well worth the effort. So to say that the fear of mild embarrassment has held me back would likely be an understatement. However I think it has also made me a cautious and analytical person. One way I’ve learned to deal with the mild embarrassment is to just grit my teeth and tell myself it won’t kill me, and so far it hasn’t.
ReplyDelete-Dixie Redman
Embarrassment has definitely kept me from doing many things. For a very long time, I did not do anything that embarrassed me to any extent. Then I met a girl in high school who just absolutely did not get embarrassed ever. We became best friends and she taught me how to deal with the feelings of embarrassment. She also taught me that it can be so worth the embarrassment to do whatever it is that I am afraid to do. Now I put myself in situations where I feel embarrassed and recover from it much quicker. The best way to overcome embarrassment is to focus on the end result and what makes the embarrassing way more rewarding. Eventually you can convince yourself that it will be worth it and get it done.
ReplyDeleteI think a little embarrassment definitely does a person some good. It is weird for me to type out that statement, as I have spent the majority of my life doing everything I could to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of doing something stupid, etc. in front of other people. In the past, I put so much pressure on myself to be perceived as perfect that I can one hundred percent say that a fear of embarrassment kept me from pursuing certain opportunities or joining in certain activities. I have learned overtime that embarrassment is truly a good thing in our world. It is something that we all go through, and embarrassing situations keep life from becoming too serious or bland. They round out our characters and force us to be more flexible and learn to rebound from the “not-so-great” times. Now, when I inevitably embarrass myself, I have learned to come back from those situations by laughing it off and trying to be better the next time around.
ReplyDeleteIf I am out in public, I will definitely let the fear that I might be mildly embarrassed hold me back from potentially memorable actions. This used to hinder me much more when I was younger. As I have grown up, I have come to care less what strangers think of me. However, if I am just with my friends, I know they will not judge me, so I go for it.
ReplyDeleteWhat about those times I did go for it, but embarrassed myself? I'm glad I did whatever it was. Also, a healthy dose of embarrassment every now and then is good for character development.
-Adeline Daniel
I would have to say that yes, I have been held back by mild embarrassment many times. I'm not the kind of person who goes out and does things all the time so a lot of things would give me mild embarrassment. If I'm with someone I know it will be less embarrassing. If I'm with someone I don’t know then its more embarrassing. If I'm with no one then I'm still a little embarrassed. I've never thought to think if I was thankful for being embarrassed. I not one hundred percent sure if I am or not. I would say that I am more thankful on certain occasions than others.
ReplyDeleteYes, I would say that I used to allow the fear of mild embarrassment to hold me back. There were many instances growing up that I would not talk or assert myself so I would not say anything that sounded dumb. I did not want to give other people the opportunity to laugh or look down on me, so for this reason I missed out on having fun more than I should. I finally overcame this fear by taking speech. I performed a humorous duet speech with my cousin, and we performed it many times in front of large crowds. When you do some of the things we did in front of people, it really starts to allow you to not be bothered by what people think of you. I would say I have really came out of my shell since taking speech, and I would recommend it to anyone who was struggling to find their voice and overcome their fear of speaking out.
ReplyDeleteThe fear of any kind of embarrassment has held me back more times than I can count. I have pretty sever anxiety so its not hard to psyche myself out of doing something or going somewhere. I have on some occasions been able to overcome this but it is usually only whenever I am used to the place I am at or close with the people who are there. I would like to be able to work on it more, and I hope that being in the honors program can help make taking chances, and talking to people easier.
ReplyDelete~ Elena Raymundo
Throughout my life, I have dealt with extreme anxiety. I would say that in many situations I would be nervous and/or embarrassed in a way that would hold me back. In these situations, I have found that taking time to analyze the situation and verbalize it to myself have helped greatly. I have seldom regretted pushing myself to do something I was previously uncomfortable with.
ReplyDelete-Darian Shaw