[coberst]

How can a young person become a hero/ine?

“Not in that he leaves something behind him, but in that he works and enjoys and stirs others to work and enjoyment, does man’s importance lie.” Goethe

A hero (heroine in female), “in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. Later, hero (male) and heroine (female) came to refer to characters who, in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self sacrifice – that is, heroism – for some greater good, originally of martial courage or excellence but extended to more general moral excellence.”—Quickie from Wiki [with minor modification].

My parents accomplished a heroic task that is often not available to today’s young people because many young people start out with so much more to begin with. It seems to me that in a more comfortable standard of living (America) available today that people so fortunate must develop other means for heroic action. However, we are rapidly approaching a time that may change this situation dramatically and thus challenge the new generation greatly on a more basic level of needs.

I was born in 1934 during the Great Depression. Dad drove a city bus in Amarillo Texas. My family moved to a very small town in Oklahoma before my first birthday; I had four siblings at the time we moved from Texas to Oklahoma to manage a small café and hotel that was then being managed by my uncle who wished to return to farming.

During the next 15 years my family managed that café and hotel. This operation allowed my parents to raise a large family in reasonably comfortable conditions throughout the depression and war years of World War II.

The psychologist Alfred Adler said: “The supreme law [of life] is this: the sense of worth of the self shall not be allowed to be diminished.”

For humanity, and especially for young people, this “supreme law” presents a paradox.

“The key to the creative type is that he is separated out of the common pool of shared meaning”. The creative type finds that for some reason, perhaps it is an unconscious reason, the world as others see it presents a problem. When the creative type perceives the collective solution to the problem is inadequate s/he attempts to fashion an individual solution. In doing so the creative type becomes “a painfully separate person with nothing shared to lean on.”

I claim that our (American) culture is anti-intellectual consumerism. It is anti-intellectual in that any intellectual energy expended on non-money making ventures is considered as a foolish waste of time and energy. Our culture discourages the egg-head, the pointed-head intellectual, and the wonk. Why else would it have such labels?

I claim that the young person can solve this paradox by developing a dual personality. S/he can learn to lead two lives. One life is shown to his or her peers under normal situations and the other life becomes a self-actualizing self-learning experience that is shared only with those few like-minded peers or perhaps adults who are capable of appreciating the distinction.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

But why the need to create a "dual personality"? We are talking about real people, who can [and do] behave heroically not comic book super heros who have some need to hide their identity?

Also, I believe that there are heros enough everywhere if you open your eyes to look.

This post has been edited by Daughter of the Nine Moons: 31 October 2009 - 06:38 PM

[coberst]

Daughter of the Nine Moons, on 31 October 2009 - 07:33 PM, said:

But why the need to create a "dual personality"? We are talking about real people, who can [and do] behave heroically not comic book super heros who have some need to hide their identity?

Also, I believe that there are heros enough everywhere if you open your eyes to look.

We need to develop a dual personality because we need self-esteem and we can gain self-esteem from either our fellow humans or from our self.

The young are not prepared to go against the grain until they have time to develop their self-confidence and thus the only source for self-esteem is through the eyes of their peers. But if the young person only rides with the herd s/he cannot develop the self reliance and self confidence upon which to build self-esteem.

The dual personality allows the young person to bask in the esteem of his or her peers while developing on the side the ability to become a hero later on.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Correct me if I am misunderstanding you, however what I take from your two posts above is that in your opinion in order to be heroic you have to fracture your personalitly.

Nonsense.

First off, having a cohesive and whole personality is part of what growing up is about. Secondly, look around you and you will see some very ordinary people who do extrodinary heroic things everyday.

[aquatus1]

coberst, on 30 October 2009 - 11:05 AM, said:

I claim that the young person can solve this paradox by developing a dual personality. S/he can learn to lead two lives. One life is shown to his or her peers under normal situations and the other life becomes a self-actualizing self-learning experience that is shared only with those few like-minded peers or perhaps adults who are capable of appreciating the distinction.

In the Japanese culture, there is a custom of developing a public hobby, and a personal hobby. It's very similar to what you are suggesting. The first is mainly a social thing, used to develop camaraderie and personality skills. The second is a skill that you use on a personal basis to develop a greater recognition of yourself.

Now, in the U.S. there is very little concept of self-worth. I understand that this may sound like a curious thing to say, when one considers the bombardment of "Be yourself!", "Everyone is special!", and "Just be yourself!" that we keep hearing like a cultish mantra from pretty much every entertainment venue out there. But the American sense of self-worth is a rather shallow thing, relying almost entirely on a person convincing themselves that the opinion's that others have about them don't matter. Because of this, I do not believe that the term "hero" is one that should be used here. Frankly, this is something that should be done as a matter of course, as part of growing up.

The term "hero" has implications of a one-time event. To quote a great philosopher:


I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity


To use "hero" would, in my opinion, be following in the same attempt to aggrandize what should be a given when growing up. Let's not confuse being a "hero", with being "heroic". We are all aware of the heroic efforts that many people, mothers, police officers, firemen, all make every day in the U.S. Appreciation is due and given here, but it is also expected. A mother is applauded for taking care of her children, but at the same time, it is a given that mother's are meant to take care of their children. A cop is awarded a metal for risking his life to save a civilian, but at the same time we know that it is part of his job to serve and protect. That being heroic is part of their daily lives does not require and intentional delineation from a single personality. It simply requires acknowledgment as being a standard part of a given life.

[Mr Walker]

"To thine own self be true."
Anyone who can achieve this is well on the way to being a hero, in any day or age.

I can be a hero with nothing but an internal realisation that something i did was heroic.

Someone else can be a hero to me because i can see in them the heroism which exists in everyone, but does not emerge in all. (and yes my father and mother were perhaps my greatest heroes for very good, logical, and rational reasons.)

Heroism can involve ongoing strength courage and sacrifice just as much as a moment of incredible bravery. But heroism, in my view, must also include an element of self awareness and a knowledge of danger/afeeling of fear, which is overcome. A fool is not a hero and neither, truly, is a person incapable of fear.

A hero recognises the danger/risk, feels the doubt and fear, yet overcomes this and does what he/she must do; through discipline, courage, or love(or a similar motivation)

To be a hero(i imagine) takes hard work, in one way or another. If it is easy, it is probably not heroic, even if it appears so to an outsider.

Any individual who works hard to overcome a real fear, and genuinely succeeds, has an element of the hero in them.

This post has been edited by Mr Walker: 13 November 2009 - 11:00 AM