You're Not a Hero
A child whose 911 call during a tense situation results in police in just the nick of time is not a hero.
An athlete who sacrifices victory to help an injured opponent is not a hero.
A former drug addict who starts rehab and prevention services is not a hero.
Not all soldiers are heroes. Not all police or firemen are heroes. Not all surgeons performing life-saving procedures are heroes.
My point is not to disparage anyone. These are examples of good people making noble and difficult or even brave choices. I just think reporters, filmmakers, songwriters, and people in general overuse the term.
"When everyone is special, no one is." The truth of that is obvious. But what if only half of people are "special"? Or only ten percent? Or one in a hundred? One in a thousand?
The more rarely a word of praise is applied, the more significant it becomes. Can "hero" be restored to its proper sublimity?
When would you use or not use the word? Must one save a life, or many, to be a hero? What about saving souls? Can a mentor who saves a person from self-destruction, guiding that person to a productive and joyful lifestyle, be a hero?
Should "heroic" be equally rare? Or, like "poetic", does that adjective signify something that is merely similar to the noun from which it is derived?
What's a hero?
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Comments:
Aug '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
Cylon
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
If children… consistently praised for the wrong things -- they can develop character weaknesses that could wreak merry Hell with their later lives.
Yes, but I specifically qualified my remark as applying to commendable behavior, not bad behavior.
Yeah, and when you quoted me, you conveniently deleted the portion where I said, "If they are grossly overpraised". Just noticin'.
Cylon
That may be true, but I was speaking of behaviors, not traits.
Still, an intelligent kid is more likely to exhibit intelligent behavior. Yet praising such a kid predominantly for his intelligent behavior (something which, after all, comes relatively easily to him and which to some extent he cannot help) rather than reserving praise for when he is hard-working or kind, may not be what such a kid needs most.
Apr '12
Re: You're Not a Hero
A hero? That's a man of great courage and strength who is favored by the gods, idn't it? Usually descended from the gods, too, and worshipped as a god after his death. None of these modern definitions for me.
Now, let's talk about the abuse of the word, "tragedy."
Dec '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
Next up, what is a "genius?"
It's interesting that you bring this up as we're watching the foothills burn across town, complete with smoke jumpers, firefighters, helicopter pilots, and tanker pilots fighting the blaze in 100+ degree temperatures and 35 mph winds, 24/7.
The local news reported from the command center today and innocently (naively) filmed the tents where the firefighters sleep in between shifts. Boy! Did they get an earful from viewers who were mad about the firefighters having to sleep in tents! Yeah, these men (and women?) are our heroes, whatever virtues they may lack otherwise. God bless them.
I guess a hero is the next guy coming over the hill to save your sorry... self.
Jun '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
Rachel's commented about courage. Chesterton, while not specifically defining a hero, provides some context:
Don't know if he's right, but is sure is beautiful.
Edited on June 26, 2012 at 8:22pmRe: You're Not a Hero
I dedicate this song to Aaron.
May '12
Re: You're Not a Hero
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Cylon
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
If children… consistently praised for the wrong things -- they can develop character weaknesses that could wreak merry Hell with their later lives.
Yes, but I specifically qualified my remark as applying to commendable behavior, not bad behavior.
Yeah, and when you quoted me, you conveniently deleted the portion where I said, "If they are grossly overpraised". Just noticin'.
I only have 200 words and I only meant to respond to that specific point in your paragraph. Had I space and time, I'd be more thorough. My response is only "convenient" in the sense that I'm trying to get to the point as efficiently as possible, given the format.
Regardless, without getting into the semantics of what constitutes overpraise vs. "gross" overpraise, I don't find the distinction really important to my point. It stands whichever type of overpraise we're discussing. That is, commendable behavior, behavior that deserves to be encouraged and recognized, is helped and not harmed by overpraise.
(cont.)
May '12
Re: You're Not a Hero
The question only becomes what constitutes commendable behavior. You pull out the notion of easily attained intellectual achievement. Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind, we were after all discussing behavior that benefited others, but even in that case I don't see the harm in praising someone for doing small things, as long as those things have good effects. Overpraising a bright intellect for intellectual achievement doesn't preclude one from also challenging the bright person to achieve even more. If a bright person develops a superiority complex due to being praised for achievement, I think it's possible to argue that the real problem is that their shortcomings haven't been criticized enough to discipline their sense of pride. What's more, one can develop an insufferable ego without being praised effusively, in fact the ego can develop in response to a need to try and hide the shortcomings a person does feel all to acutely. Bottom line, we need to reward behavior that has good effects. I think it is very hard to over reward good behavior.
Edited on June 26, 2012 at 9:10pmDec '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
tabula rasa: ...
Don't know if he's right, but is sure is beautiful.
Love that Chesterton quote. Is it from Orthodoxy?
Dec '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
As a comic book nerd I will answer as tradition dictates.
If you save the day,then you are a hero.
There are large and small heroes, A listers and D listers, but they are heroes nonetheless
Edit:
Edited on June 26, 2012 at 9:09pmSuperhero is a term reserved for people for whom "saving the day" is their profession.
Dec '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
I agree "Hero" is cheapened by its overuse. Hero can be contextual, but not all heroic behavior makes one a hero. If one fails in ones attempts, despite valor, then hero status may not be conferred, even posthumously. Therefore my definition would imply success in an endeavor most would or could not attempt, risking life and limb for the benefit of others but not excluding self fulfillment as though one was born for that defining moment and either in completion of a remarkable life or in redemption for past sins. Further there is implicit blessing from God in allowing success.
Mar '11
Re: You're Not a Hero
Aaron, you really put yourself out there. You spoke truth to our narcissistic culture with no regard for your own personal safety. You are my hero
Mar '12
Re: You're Not a Hero
People doing their duty are not, under ordinary circumstances, heroic.
The categories of people listed at the beginning of this thread are not generally heroic, although under extreme circumstances, the military, police and firemen may be exactly that.
In my reading I have been reading about men and women who have found something so important that they risked their marriages and gave up their careers to follow it. That I believe is heroic.
Edited on June 26, 2012 at 9:32pmOct '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
Aaron... what have you got against the lowest common denomitor definition??
Actually, I regard a hero as one who suffers the same risk as the one whom he saves.
A fireman who risks dying in a fire to save the trapped victim is a hero. One who merely points the water stream is not.
A policeman who is shot saving a potential victim is a hero. The cop who shows up to block the perimiter is not.
The Jefferson County police department, at Columbine High School was stained with cowardice. The Math teacher who died trying to save the kids was a hero.
Why do people have difficulty figuring this out??
Jun '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
Western Chauvinist
tabula rasa: ...
Love that Chesterton quote. Is it fromOrthodoxy?
Yes, which is my favorite of Chesterton's overtly Christian works.
Aug '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
No, it does not preclude challenging the bright person, but it does seem, paradoxically, to lead not to superiority complexes but to inferiority complexes.
Now, I would be the last person to suggest that feelings of inferiority are not bound up with pride in some way. But being ashamed of yourself and easily discouraged is more what we associate with underconfidence than overconfidence.
It's not an uncommon observation that kids can grow up with parents who, while hypercritical about practically everything, nonetheless overpraise the intellect involved in intellectual achievements. This leads to children with insufficiently discipline pride about their intellects, but the pride manifests itself in insufficient confidence.
Pride resulting in underconfidence may be the hardest to correct, too, since reality does not correct it in the same way that, say, pride resulting in overconfidence is corrected.
Edited on June 26, 2012 at 10:31pmDec '11
Re: You're Not a Hero
What's a hero?
An individual who risks life, limb, and even social standing to fight for good against evil. My favorite modern day example: Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
May '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
I like impossibly high standards, if you haven't noticed. Aim for perfection. God will forgive us when we fall short.
May '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
I think God will honor us for the small stuff too.
Jun '10
Re: You're Not a Hero
I think it's hard to create a consensus definition. It sort of like Justice Potter Stewart's definition of obscenity: "I know it when it see it."
My Dad lived for 64 years with a disabling war injury that caused him chronic pain. I never heard him once complain about the injury or the pain. That's heroic, at least to me.
Edited on June 27, 2012 at 1:18amApr '11
Re: You're Not a Hero
Since a soldier is the only person who would qualify to know this (and I am not one, but I have surveyed the field) a hero is the guy dies trying to save everyone else even when he knows he's going to die doing it.