Authority

“People are not afraid of failure, they’re afraid of blame.” – Seth Godin

Jim Holt might say this is a priori. Regardless, this statement has a lot of implications. Blame necessitates a discrete authority to ascribe responsibility, inferring subsequent consequences. I include Mr. Holt's Ted Talk because it draws out a relevant question, "What authority do we acknowledge?" For example, Mr. Holt is pretty explicit; he acknowledges himself as an authority. To Mr. Godin's statement, my pride does make me dislike failure as well as blame. But the fullness of my sin makes both inescapable. I am therefore at the mercy of the authority.