Thinking Out Loud

Learning To Be Second

I worry about my grandchildren inheriting a world where the machine is always the smartest voice in the room.

Not because it isn’t. In many respects it already is. The machine processes faster, knows more, makes fewer errors, and never has an off day. On raw intelligence by most measurable definitions, it’s ahead. That’s just true.

But here’s what I learned in thirty-five years of teaching. The youngsters who developed most weren’t the ones who were always the smartest in the room. They were the ones who were comfortable being second. Who could sit next to someone more capable and learn from them without feeling diminished. Who understood that being outperformed wasn’t the same as being without value.

That capacity, to work alongside something more capable without losing your sense of your own worth and your own contribution, might be the most important thing my grandchildren’s generation needs to develop. And we’re not teaching it.

Mike

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