A commenter* the other day mentioned that "I'm Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem is one of his favorite songs. I didn't know it. I like it too, though. Here it is. And here are the lyrics (which appear to exist in several versions), in case you want to read the list of all those bands. Gil! Scott! Heron!
It led to another little discovery. After I listened to it a few times, YouTube suggested the following as related content. It's a video of James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem discussing failure and success, and that song. (LCD Soundsystem, a band I wasn't really aware of, eventually had a number-one album in the United States, American Dream, in 2017.)
Great stuff. I love this.
It raises a very interesting idea I never thought of before: namely, that "a failure" isn't actually the worst thing you can be. It's not the lowest of the low. Because failure implies that you tried something, and didn't bring it off. You had an ambition, you followed through, but it didn't fly. What James talks about is something worse than failing: not even being together enough to try. Or organizing your life to be something and then not even being it.
Interesting notion. Failing is bad, no question. But maybe it's not the worst thing.
Mike
*I can't find the comment now, which is why I don't identify the commenter. If someone can help, let me know and I'll modify this post. By the way, blanket thanks to everyone who helps by suggesting references and outside materials that support things I say in posts. I don't always use these—it's a judgement call, and at this point I've been doing this for so long that I just go by instinct, which means the call I make isn't always right—but I appreciate the time and effort you take to let me know about things. I'm grateful.
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Featured Comments from:
"Some speak of the future
My love she speaks softly
She knows there's no success like failure
And that failure's no success at all"
The 20th century Bard...
Posted by: JTK | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 01:09 PM
https://youtube.com/watch?v=9mXGSjnUvSM&feature=share9
Posted by: Blind Paperboy | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 01:27 PM
So true. If you never try you will never briuse your fragile ego. There is safety in not trying.
Posted by: c.d.embrey | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 03:09 PM
My thought about failure...
If one does not fail occasionally, one is not leading a very interesting life!
Your post also reminded me of a quote by Linus Pauling who won Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Peace, but was horribly wrong when it came to nutrition, especially vitamin C.
The quote... “If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.”
Posted by: Frank Gorga | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 03:26 PM
Hi Mike
Bob said it well:
"you know, there's no success like failure, and failure is no success at all"
"Love minus zero, no limits"
kind regards
roger fisher
australia
Posted by: roger fisher | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 08:14 PM
I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work. Thomas A. Edison
Posted by: Brian | Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 10:42 PM
As a student studying physics and astronomy in the 1960s, I learned that "failure" was but another step in the research process. 100% of all experiments or theories are not successful; 1% is probably more like it. You learn from what didn't work, rethink and try again. The same thing is true in all aspects of life - and, of course photography. Every photo is not successful - a winner - but you should learn from every photo what works* and doesn't work and apply that to the next try.
*"What Works" is itself subject to interpretation, of course, and mostly subjective.
Posted by: JH | Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 01:51 AM
Failure happened to Churchill, many times in his long life. Most times it happened to be favourable for him in the end.
Best example are his "wilderness years" in the 1930s when nobody gave him a government office. This made him the credible figure, once WWII broke out. The rest is history.
Posted by: Anton Wilhelm Stolzing | Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 07:34 AM
From a science fiction Webcomic called Schlock Mercenary:
"70. Failure is not an option - it is mandatory. The option is whether or not to let failure be the last thing you do."
-- Howard Tayler
Posted by: William Lewis | Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 09:35 AM
Edwin Land, the inventor of analog instant photography, was an indefatigable visionary who never compromised his goals. Central to that world view was the embrace of failure as a necessary component to success.
In "Insisting on the Impossible," Victor McElheny's excellent biography of Land, McElheny writes of the great struggles Polaroid went through to create color integral film, testing 10s of thousands of possible chemical formulations and approaches along the way.
Among Land's ruminations on the subject: "An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail."
You must fail to succeed. There is no other way.
- Dale
Posted by: Dale Greer | Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 10:08 AM
I've heard that FAIL actually means "First Attempt in Learning".
Seek opportunities to FAIL.
Posted by: Tom Stermitz | Thursday, 22 June 2023 at 01:01 PM
LCD Soundsystem's 'Daft Punk is Playing in My House'is another great number from the same album.
Posted by: Rupak Roy | Friday, 23 June 2023 at 03:30 AM
The designer of the deep sea submersible failed and the results are not good. It was a learning experience for others in the future, We hope so in any case.
Posted by: JoeB | Friday, 23 June 2023 at 10:39 AM