"Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily"

Learning, especially at a conscious and meaningful level, demands vulnerability. Embracing new knowledge means relinquishing the comfort of already knowing, which often exposes limitations, ignorance, or mistakes. When acquiescing to learn, a person must confront the possibility of being wrong or not knowing something they perhaps thought they did , an experience that can be humbling or even bruising to the ego. The discomfort that arises from recognizing our own gaps in understanding is, essentially, the “injury to one’s self-esteem” that Thomas Szasz mentions. The challenge, then, is not only in absorbing new information but also in enduring the temporary drop in self-regard that often accompanies the act of admitting ignorance or error.

Children exemplify the ideal of open learning, largely because they have yet to develop a strong sense of self-importance. Without layers of pride to protect or a carefully curated sense of identity to maintain, children are less inhibited about getting things wrong. Their mistakes are generally received as natural steps in the learning process, both by themselves and by those around them. Because their self-esteem is not yet tied to being correct or knowledgeable, children are more likely to take risks, ask questions, and persist in the face of confusion or failure. This absence of ego-centric barriers makes their learning rapid and uninhibited.

By contrast, as people grow older, they become more conscious of their image, more invested in being right, and more guarded against anything that might threaten their self-concept. This self-protectiveness can become a significant obstacle to further learning. The lesson, implied by Szasz’s observation, is to cultivate the willingness to endure the short-term discomfort to one’s self-esteem that is inseparable from authentic learning. To learn most effectively, even as adults, it helps to recapture the childlike openness to error and freedom from ego.