High School Heroes

[coberst]

High School Heroes

 

I suspect it is in high school that we get a real taste of what the hero system is all about. This is, perhaps, our first taste of what socialization, self-esteem, and heroism really mean to us personally.

 

Each high school seems to offer some means for becoming a hero. Unfortunately it seems that the hero slots are few and they usually accentuate physical attributes. In one high school football is king of self-esteem, in another it may be basketball, in another it may be baseball, in another etc. There are other hero slots that are filled by those with ‘good looks’, ‘witty personality’, ‘has a car’, etc. Most students must find their own means for becoming heroes because the high school does not provide the means for sufficient hero slots to meet the demand.

 

Self-esteem is the goal and heroism is the means,; those who do not find a means for establishing self-esteem are in trouble. “The supreme law [of life] is this: the sense of worth of the self not be allowed to be diminished.”--Alfred Adler. In other words, the fundamental law of human life is the urge to self-esteem.

 

Our self-esteem is derived from symbols. In the ape such matters were biologically cared for but we humans depend upon a symbolic constitution of worth. We are largely artificialized creatures dependant upon our society to provide each of us with a means for establishing our own self-esteem, without which we go crazy.

 

Our whole life is a continual animation seeking an artificial symbol of self-worth. Often net-worth is our avenue for satisfying this craving for self-worth.

 

I suspect each of us has a movie-reel constantly running in our head whereby we maintain a real time grade for self-esteem. If that grade goes to ‘F’ such things as the massacre at Virginia Tech happen.

 

These forum postings are part of my hero activity. What are some of your acts of heroism, and are they keeping your self-esteem grade high enough to satisfy you?

 

Do you think that your society is providing you with sufficient means for your hero needs?

[ofgreenstar]

I never really looked at it like that. Its interesting.

I heard about something called DD. Depersonalization Disorder.

Its the idea that you kinda go into questioning your whole existance and because of that become detached from the society you live in.

Is it bad to fall out of step with your society though? What if the things your society does to give you that hero feeling is at the cost of someone else's self esteem and ability for that same thing?

[coberst]

I never really looked at it like that. Its interesting.

I heard about something called DD. Depersonalization Disorder.

Its the idea that you kinda go into questioning your whole existance and because of that become detached from the society you live in.

Is it bad to fall out of step with your society though? What if the things your society does to give you that hero feeling is at the cost of someone else's self esteem and ability for that same thing?

 

 

Excellent question.

 

 

We judge our value generally by finding approval from our society. If the rest of society does it then it is good. It takes a very strong character to resist what the rest of society calls good. A good example might be when the US went into war in Iraq. Few voices were heard in opposition.

 

It is a paradox that often what we do to make our self into a hero are at the expense of others. We feel good often by making others feel bad. We become heroes by killing our enemy who in turn become heroes by killing their enemy.

 

Therein lay the rub. If we are to survive as a species we must learn a new secular moral code that everyone finds acceptable.

[ofgreenstar]

Therein lay the rub. If we are to survive as a species we must learn a new secular moral code that everyone finds acceptable.

 

I agree, but i still find problems with it. Such as, as westerns we want to seek a Utopian society, but under a different group they wish something completely different. It wouldn't even have to be opposite, just something else, like they are an isolationist hunter gather band and wish nothing of modern troubles. Or it could be a group that think God put them on this planet and their survival comes before anyone else's, so to ensure that they want everything and want to kill everyone. My point is who's to say who's right or wrong? If westerns decide that a Utopian society is best because it will provide the most amount of freedom to the most amount of people, and there is dissent, what do you do? How do you enforce something like that?

 

And of course, What would the moral codes be?

[coberst]

I agree, but i still find problems with it. Such as, as westerns we want to seek a Utopian society, but under a different group they wish something completely different. It wouldn't even have to be opposite, just something else, like they are an isolationist hunter gather band and wish nothing of modern troubles. Or it could be a group that think God put them on this planet and their survival comes before anyone else's, so to ensure that they want everything and want to kill everyone. My point is who's to say who's right or wrong? If westerns decide that a Utopian society is best because it will provide the most amount of freedom to the most amount of people, and there is dissent, what do you do? How do you enforce something like that?

 

And of course, What would the moral codes be?

 

I am convinced that we must become much more intellectually sophisticated so that together we can figure out these complex questions. I do not think presently we can handle such questions but I do think that we have the brain power but we lack the will and we fear our own capacity and will ignore the problem because of our timidity.