High on the list of my favorite current television commercials is the series sponsored by Progressive Insurance, staring Dr. Rick. They are absolutely hilarious. If you haven’t seen any of them, you can watch most of them here. Dr. Rick’s key aspiration is to prevent you from turning into your parents, and he hosts a variety of different workshops in which he equips you with the strategies you need to avoid the social hiccups and handicaps that most parents unconsciously commit, and which their children find so embarrassing. (I’m laughing as I write this, as if I ‘m innocent from this infraction. To the contrary. I am as guilty as any—although my children have yet to provide me with any evidence lol).

As I researched the development of these commercials, I was intrigued to discover that part of their effectiveness is erected on a solid psychological foundation. In 2015, Progressive’s chief marketing officer, Jeff Carney stumbled across the concept of “parental introjection,” and thought it could be a creative way to explore the different stages of life—and how we need insurance at each stage. Parental introjection is the idea that we “absorb the traits of the adults that we’re around first and most frequently.” How true! That idea explains why those Progressive commercials, which started airing in April 2020, are so effective. It also explains why the older I get, the more I act and sound like my parents.

I have started acting and sounding so much like my parents that last year I called my brothers and started a collection of everything we heard them say and do. One of the aphorisms that I constantly heard my mother say was “high mind, poor behind.” The animating idea of this aphorism is that pride often leads to less than favorable outcomes. Since there is a causal relationship between how you think (mind) and where you sit (behind), the only way to understand your position is to grasp your cognition. People with high minds usually fail to see all the work, sacrifice, and grit required to achieve a certain objective. It reminds me of what Fred Thompson once said about running for president of the United States. He said “I want to be president. I don’t want to run for president.” In other words, I want the prize, but not the pain required to secure it. I want the success, but not the sweat that comes along with it. I want to be fabulous, but not the frustration that frequently attends it.

On 3 distinct occasions in the New Testament writings of the apostle Paul , we are warned against the dangers of being high-minded. In Romans 11:20, he tells new believers not to be “highminded, but fear.” In 1 Timothy 6:17 , Paul reminds his protege to “charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things. Then in 2 Timothy 3:4, Paul tells us that one sign that we are living in dangerous times is that people will be heady and highminded. The expression "high-minded” comes from a Greek word that means to lift the head up. And whenever I lift up my head, I have a tendency to look down on people, situations, and even opportunities. The first item on the list of things that God hates In Provebrs 6:16-19 is a “proud look.”

This is one of the reasons that David beat Goliath. How could a seventeen year old boy who had never been in battle triumph over a ten-foot tall, battle tested veteran who carried a spear that weighed 600 pounds? A clue is given in 1 Samuel 17:42. It says that when Goliath saw David approach him, that he “disdained him.” To disdain means to look down on someone. Goliath was insulted that David thought he could beat him with a slingshot. So Goliath looked down on David.

But soon, David was looking down on Goliath. High mind, poor behind.

Be careful who and what you look down on.

Be careful who and what you disdain.

Be careful who and what you assume is beneath you.

Proverbs 16:18 is worth memorizing:

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.