We all know the ill fate of Greek Mythology’s Icarus. Ignoring his father Daedalus’s guidance whilst escaping from King Minos, he soars too close to the Sun on the wings his father had crafted to flee the labyrinth of Crete, melting the beeswax that held the feathers in place. Instead, he plummets to the ocean depths.

But what if there was more to the story? Rather than perish, what if he rose as a deity of judgement? A harbinger of consequence?

Often seen as an allegory for “excessive ambition”, Icarus is a model case of bull-headedness without consideration of consequence, that ultimately leads to backlash. Some may attribute this to “karma”, but it is often the case of a reckless strive to achieve without due care, thought or preparation. The Icarus Complex, devised by Henry A. Murray, is “a pattern of psychological functioning characterized by grandiosity, risk-taking, and a defiant challenge to limitations—often culminating in a tragic fall.”

A momentary feeling of invincibility, before the paper-thin armour peels away like the shedding of feathered dominoes.

Unfortunately, today’s world seems fuller of bull-headed recklessness than ever. An ugly desire for success, for fame, for attention, no matter the collateral, both to others and ourselves.

Whilst there is wisdom in the saying “Think Smarter, Not Harder”, this is often misinterpreted as “Find The Magic Shortcut”, the get rich quick / easy way out agenda. Having focus and drive is good. Foolhardy tunnel vision however creates blind spots.

Can we as moths ever learn to dodge the enticing flame?

We increasingly see it in politics, in celebrity, in business, in our peers, in society itself, and the frequency of exposure to this is only getting higher with our exponential consumption of “media” we spoon-feed ourselves.

However, in many ways this temporary high is bittersweet for the “inflated ones”, as the same spoon-fed audience gets to witness their inevitable deflating fall back to earth in real-time, and they relish it. The work of Icarus the Harbinger is often appreciated by the voyeur. Society in a cruel twist can smile at consequential failure just as much as genuine success. Yet it often fails to recognise and absorb the lesson being performed before its very eyes. All this does is encourage this behaviour to multiply, for any attention is still attention…

I believe there is real truth to the acquisition of knowledge and understanding from failure. That many opportunities come from taking risks and daring to push ourselves.

But do we ever truly learn from our mistakes?

Dan | Digitalgyoza is a lighting designer and digital AI artist based in the UK, who writes about Art, Technology, Web3, Culture and Blockchain.

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