Today, A Tool to Curb Pride.  The University of Houston presents this series about the machines that make our civilization run, and the people whose ingenuity created them.

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I’m an actor and I can tell you we’re an egocentric lot. Oh really?  But did you know we’re also an insecure lot, generally speaking?  We get a critical review and we’re devastated.  We get a good review and we’re over the moon.  What’s happening here? We’re focusing a little less on the work done and a little more on our pride in the work. And that’s a very slippery slope. The antidote?  Metaphorically speaking, don’t believe your reviews.

Here, listen to this excerpt from a wonderful essay by Dr. Michael LaCombe. The essay is framed as a series of letters from the Devil instructing his student Rufus on how to trap the soul of a doctor; which is to say, the soul of any one of us.

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My dear Rufus, I am so delighted in how you torture your doctors!  This whole area of emotion is such a marvelous attack point. I will give you an example.  Suppose your doctors have made some brilliant diagnosis producing unparalleled success.  They may begin to be happy, may begin to like their work.  You do not want this.  Anyone who enjoys a pursuit for its own sake while at the same time disdaining any notion of ulterior gain is disgusting to us. It is your job to prevent this. 

And what have I told you is your primary instrument in cases like this? Why, their pride, of course! Permit your doctors to be proud of themselves, proud of their brilliant diagnosis! Allow them to talk about their achievements, present their accomplishments at Grand Rounds, even write about their breakthroughs! Make them work at it, chew on it until it becomes a tired quid of tobacco in their mouths, and as tasty.   

Do you see what this does?  The mere thought of the good deed becomes disgusting to them. Anyone can do that, they think. Why should I bother? You see? Instead of the joy of accomplishment, instead of the pleasure in helping others, as He would have your doctors feel, you permit them just enough insight to see how pompous they are, and so allow them to doubt themselves for it. Delicious! 

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So, there we have it, straight from the Devil’s mouth: when we put our own merit above the right action of our work, the fabric of our integrity begins to fray just a little. But what’s wrong with taking credit for work well done?  Well, nothing, in itself.  It’s only when we begin to feel a sense of entitlement, of specialness because of that credit that we feed the demons of our incipient arrogance.  It’s a good lesson, one sometimes forgotten, and it’s often a painful one.  Take it from an actor who used to believe her reviews.  So how about today we just stand up straight and say out loud, to ourselves, “You know, I did good work today.  And that’s enough.” 

I’m Megan Cole, for the University of Houston, and I’m interested in the way inventive minds work. 

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End Notes:

Michael LaCombe, “Letters of Intent” in:

   Empathy and the Practice of Medicine, Spiro, Curnen, Peschel, St. James, eds.

   New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993.

This episode first aired February 4, 2025