How Steve Harvey Survived Miss Universe

How Steve Harvey Made A Top Mistake and Survived the Miss Universe Pageant

I don’t know why I chose to watch the Miss Universe Pageant on Sunday, December 20th. I usually don’t enjoy those types of shows, but I’m very glad I watched because I was able to see Steve Harvey make his now famous top mistake in announcing the winner of Miss Universe 2015. My happiness has nothing to do with schadenfreude, though, as I take no pleasure in the suffering of others.

The reason why I felt fortunate to witness this incredibly awkward moment was because it illustrated to me an important lesson both in human frailty and in human resilience. It was one of the worst possible things that could go wrong; a horrendous faux pas played out in front of an audience of millions, but then it was followed by a surprising and excellent recovery, which I saw as tremendously reassuring.

When we look at various lists of our top fears, the fear of public speaking is always very close to the top, and it’s because of the underlying fear of making a fool of oneself.

Shame is a major source of anxiety for human beings. The sensation of shame is particularly painful because it includes not only feeling sick and stupid but also small and ridiculous. Public shame is the worst of all, the anguish of being humiliated by making a top mistake in front of our peers or worse, those who we’re hoping to impress, can be excruciating.

Many people avoid speaking in public altogether, for the express purpose of not allowing themselves to be put in a position that might result in their experiencing shame. Many people would rather do just about anything than speaking in public.

So, when Steve Harvey botched the announcement of the winner of Miss Universe, 2015, he realized one of our worst fears: he looked appalling in front of the contestants, his bosses, and millions of people, all around the world.