Interesting. Not sure it's so tautological everyone has such hero worship very strongly.
FWIW - to the degree that I'm not a rare exception: For me personally I find if anything it's the other way round: I'm yearning for heroes I could admire as heroes but find I fail to find them. Mostly. And surely we're all gullible in one way or another, but even those I admire most for certain things, I'm rather skeptical about what they say, and even if they say something I like, I'm skeptical about their arguments.
This sounds like I'm painting myself as a great rational observer. I don't mean! I'm often pbly quite naive. But the point is I really have the impression I'm probably often better at debunking things from people I could more naturally have as 'heroes' in my life than from others. Maybe as I have more empathy to them and their claims and see the subtleties they gloss over more easily than when I see things from 'opponents'.
Yeah, I probably pushed the "you have hero-worship" frame a bit too strongly. FWIW I don't think I claimed everyone has hero worship very strongly. I do think that nearly[1] everyone has a case of hero-worship. Probably more cases than they think, and more strongly, bc. of Elephant in the Brain type reasons. But the vibe didn't quite convey that. That's what I get for writing this quickly, I suppose.
Still, if you have a case of hero-worship, then this article isn't really for you. I hope it is a bit useful in a "more is possible" way for people who do suffer from hero-worship.
[1] "~" is meant to signify "nearly".
Yes and I might enjoy continuing to watch out for inner heroes thanks to your post anwyay; agree the Elephant in the Brain type suspicions warranted.
I see now. Yes, ~ ≈ nearly though only ≈ indeed. :-)
Though I appreciate the reference at the end, I think an important part of this is that it's also so that when you meet a hero you can do more with this skill. You can "see" and engage with the real person. A person as real and mundane as every other person, with all the good and bad that implies.
I actually think "see" is too limited an analogy, because this really involves all your senses and reasoning, but it's also true that I feel it has a close connection to what artists call "learning to see", like maybe it's using the same mental circuits.
You can learn to see so well that you can do it effortlessly. Suddenly you're always seeing more, everywhere, from then on. Seeing and appreciating everything you look at; beautiful, ugly, boring, surprising, and all the rest.
And when you meet your hero on the road, you can love them as a fellow person, instead of worshiping them as a hero.
Agreed. I meant that you can kill the far-mode caricature of them you have in your head, if you so wish.
~ Everyone has a case of hero worship. Hero-worship distorts your thinking. So it'd be great if you could toggle it off at will. Recently, I've discovered that I can do this, to an extent. How is this possible? Elementary induction, my dear reader!
First, consider those who were once a hero to you. Personally, Socrates was once my hero. I used to go around telling people that he was the wisest man ever, that I viewed him as my master, that I would follow any command of his. Then, upon learning more of science and rationality, I realized "wait a minute, I know a lot of things!" And Socrates was my hero no more. (No doubt, everyone has been there.)
So I did somehow toggle my hero worship off in that case. And in many other cases. I have heroes like dogs have fleas.
Second, consider what the transition felt like. For me, it felt like "wait a minute, he's just some guy, why do I have to defer to him?". More-over, focusing on the transition taught me what it is like when I have a case of hero-worship.
Third, consider those cases where you temporarily toggle your hero worship. Right now, I've got a number of folks who I sometimes view as a hero, sometimes not. Mostly the change occurs when they attack something sacred to me, take the Wrong Position on politics, or opine on a topic I know more about. For a moment, I toggle my hero-worship off.
This gives me plenty of opportunity to notice the mental motions, and interrupt them if need be. Whether that's stopping myself from criticizing my hero, or stopping myself from resorting to cope. Step three is quite powerful because interventions help determine causal structure.
After (somehow) managing to notice and analyse these cases, you should have a shot at triangulating the requisite mental motion to toggle hero worship at will.
So now, if you meet your hero on the road, you can kill Him.
Note: Developing a toggle for hero-worship may benefit from other skills, like Seeing with Fresh Eyes, Escaping a Rut, Focusing and Remembrancy.