Who are your heroes?

Role models help us answer life's most important question: "What sort of a person should I be?" It is the issue of virtue. What is virtue? Some philosophers (Alasdair MacIntyre) base their entire ethics on this question.

As a kid, I escaped into Super Man comics and, later, Science Fiction. In both genres, heroic figures confront big issues - sometimes saving the world or at least overcoming villains with their own superpowers.

I don't remember having "real-life" role models. My father was rather distant, like his own father. Eventually, that "distance" turned into outright abandonment. He did teach me to shoot and brought me along as a surveyor's assistant when I was 12, but I never thought I'd like to be like him "When I grew up".  On the other hand, he was the only role model I had available. I remember when he had his first heart attack. In a strange way that I feel is "progress", I have come to regard my father's example of a "life well lived" to be something I return to often. I don't aspire to be like him but I have come to respect his ultra-practical, no-bullshit view of life. He was the hero in his own life story. That's nothing.

But, from an early age until the present, I have had fantasies of being a superhero. A "world-famous something or other".

"Real-life" role models did creep into my life and gradually made an impact. Most notable was my grade 12 math teacher. Going into University my life plan was to be a teacher. As it turned out, I would have less control over my life than I imagined. Like most folks, I needed to respond to the practical necessities of supporting a family and battling health issues.

In the late 60's we expected to "elevate our consciousness" with LSD - another superman fantasy. It is rarely remarked that "spiritual" endeavors are an effort to escape mundane existence and obtain super powers. Most obviously, the superpower of immortality, or at least a cozy relationship with the Maker of the Universe, who can occasionally be persuaded to bend the arc of history to suit us.

If a young man spends many hours per day playing violent video games or generally imagining himself to be a hero in an imaginary world, who will be his heroes? If a girl spends hours per day immersed in "celebrity culture", who will be her role models? I don't think it is an original observation that many young men grow up with violent fantasies (or more than fantasies) and many young women grow up hating their looks. In both cases, what is missing are "natural" role models. Not a small number of children see the lives and values of their parents as empty and meaningless. I must say that this is an accurate observation in most cases, yet these kids inevitably follow in the steps of their parents, living the same lives but with the added curse of knowing how meaningless their lifestyle is.

If one lacks a model who can lead the way through life, the meaning of life itself becomes elusive Is it any wonder that fanaticism of all kinds attracts rudderless people who seek to be involved in something "bigger than themselves"? A simple, decent, responsible human life holds no meaning.

There is a lot to be said on this issue. I hope to return to this subject soon.

--- Notes ---

Voice Recording: Virtue

"Virtue is circular"