At the annual Aims of Education address on September 25, Professor Peggy Mason spoke to the incoming Class of 2029 at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, encouraging students to embrace discomfort and take intellectual risks during their time at the University of Chicago.
“I want you to learn to be uncomfortable, to take intellectual risks, grow as a thinker,” Mason said. “Accept and ultimately revel in the severe discomfort that accompanies exposure to and potentially adoption of a perspective that clashes brutally with long-held beliefs.”
She continued: “Persevere on a thought path even if distress storms in.”
Mason, who is recognized for her work as a neurobiologist and as director of the undergraduate minor in Science Communication and Public Discourse, drew from her decades-long experience teaching UChicago students. She discussed how different modes of learning—explicit and implicit—play roles in shaping student growth. Explicit learning involves conscious effort such as memorizing facts or languages, while implicit learning occurs unconsciously and is difficult to describe.
“You can assign Wednesday night to buckle down and learn the structure of the Periodic Table. That will work. However, scheduling Thursday night at the Reg to learn to tolerate intellectual discomfort? That won’t work,” she said.
To illustrate these concepts, Mason referenced potty training practices around the world. In some cultures, such as among Kenya’s Digo tribe, mothers begin toilet training soon after birth using positive reinforcement—a process based on implicit learning.
“Almost immediately after a baby’s birth, a mother of the Digo tribe of Kenya starts training her baby,” Mason explained. “The mom repeats this process day in and day out, thereby conditioning the baby.”
Mason emphasized that success through trial and error is key not only for basic skills but also for intellectual development. She noted that being right all the time is less important than striving for improvement.
“Just as walking, piano-playing and the pronunciation of foreign words don’t happen on the first go, neither does intellectual risk-taking,” she said. “Getting to be comfortable with discomfort, discordant and incongruent thoughts—this just does not happen without trying and failing. Repeatedly.”
Using sports as an example, Mason highlighted how those who do not win often find motivation in their loss: “Watch winners and losers of championships,” she said. “The champions are ecstatic—for a moment. The smiles and happy tears pass quickly. The runners-up… burn with a fire evident in their faces… This fire fuels redoubled efforts to gain a championship in the next contest…”
In closing her remarks, Mason urged students to make use of university resources—including faculty members—and seek out experiences that challenge them intellectually.
“During the next four years, use us—the faculty, use the bountiful resources of UChicago, your fellow students, and most importantly your precious time—to condition yourself to being flustered, exhilarated, agitated, exultant, upset and triumphant as you embark on your own most uncomfortable and simultaneously most rewarding life of intellectual quest.”
She concluded by encouraging openness to change: “Grow as a thinker, take risks, change your opinion even when that change brings you severe discomfort,” she said. “Learning the habits of thought that will fuel a lifelong affair with thinking and exploring, doubting and growing, changing and modifying your views is worthy of four years of your time.”