The Pride Paradox

In 1980, two American economists, Sanford J. Grossman and Joseph E. Stiglitz, published an essay called “On the Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets.” Their argument, which has come to be known as the Grossman-Stiglitz Paradox, is that markets are only efficient to the degree that people believe that markets are not efficient.

If people believe that some stock prices are too low, they will expend the effort necessary to find those stocks and buy them, which will in turn raise the price to their accurate value. But if no one believes it’s worth the effort then those prices will remain too low,.

Managing pride works much the same way.

President Henry B. Eyring once said, “It’s hard to feel that you are sufficiently humble. If you did, you might not be” (“Come Unto Christ,” Brigham Young University Devotional Address, 29 October 1989).

Elder David A. Bednar elaborated on this principle in a talk last fall:

May I suggest that if you or I believe we are sufficiently strong and stalwart to avoid the arrogance of pride, then perhaps we already are suffering from this deadly spiritual disease. Simply stated, if you or I do not believe we could be afflicted with and by pride, then we are vulnerable and in spiritual danger.

“In the Space of Not Many Years,” General Conference, October 2024

“Beware of pride,” the Lord said in an 1831 revelation, “lest ye become as the Nephites of old” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:39).

Throughout the Book of Mormon, we read how the Nephites became complacent during times of prosperity, which led them to become proud, which resulted in tragedy. Mormon outlined the process in the following passage:

At the very time when [the Lord] doth prosper his people, … doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

Helaman 12:2

So this is the paradox of pride: If we let down our guard, we are susceptible to it. We can only avoid it through vigilance, and we will only expend the energy to reduce or eliminate it if we believe we are vulnerable to it. No wonder the Lord warned us, “Beware of pride.”

Today, I will remember that I am vulnerable to pride and ask the Lord to help me become more humble.