An Unhelpful Taxonomy of Heroism
Not long ago, I happened upon the blog of Scott Allison, a professor of psychology at the University of Richmond. Allison has co-authored one book on heroism and he has another on the way.
This bit, from a blog post last month, is from a forthcoming journal article (as well as the forthcoming book):
Below is the taxonomy of heroes that we propose in Understanding Exceptional Leadership. We elaborate on these ten kinds of heroes in an article that will appear this summer in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Goethals & Allison, 2012).
Having thought quite a bit about heroism myself over the past few years, I’m incredibly curious about this taxonomy of heroism that Allison proposes … in no small part because it seems so clearly wrong to me in so many ways.
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As many RC readers know, I now spend considerably more time in Omaha in a given week than I did, say, a month ago.
Coincidence?
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![Yesterday morning, I asked my Facebook friends why I didn’t like Lady Gaga; unsurprisingly, the question has engendered a good deal of commentary.
I hit on this question after watching the SNL season finale, reading a very favorable New York Times piece, and recognizing that the concept behind Lady Gaga was something I ought to like but didn’t.
To be blunt, I don’t enjoy listening to Gaga’s music. She was actually quite funny in skits with Justin Timberlake on SNL, but not enjoyable to watch or listen to when she performed songs from her new album. And yet I like music that makes me think I probably ought to like her music. So, in the spirit of capturing what an old fuddy-duddy I am, I decided to create the above picture.
The most obvious example, as the picture highlights, is that I really like Queen. If Freddie Mercury makes sense to me, why doesn’t Gaga? Or, to put it differently, if I like “Radio Ga Ga,” why don’t I like Lady Gaga? Is it just that she’s completely derivative of things I already like (and have liked for a very long time) and thus I don’t need her?[1]
Is there something more to it that I’m just not recognizing in my old age?[2]
[1] Having said all of this, I should note that I don’t hold the position that no one should like Lady Gaga. Indeed, I’m perfectly happy for every generation to have its Freddie Mercury. The whole Gaga thing just doesn’t make sense to me, since I already have my own Freddie Mercury — and, of course, prefer him to this one in every way.
[2] Apart from the fact that I’m unnecessarily antagonizing what is probably the vast majority of people who follow this blog on Tumblr, which –- as you can now see -– I already recognize.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llz9aro9FU1qzy2emo1_500.png)
Yesterday morning, I asked my Facebook friends why I didn’t like Lady Gaga; unsurprisingly, the question has engendered a good deal of commentary.
I hit on this question after watching the SNL season finale, reading a very favorable New York Times piece, and recognizing that the concept behind Lady Gaga was something I ought to like but didn’t.
To be blunt, I don’t enjoy listening to Gaga’s music. She was actually quite funny in skits with Justin Timberlake on SNL, but not enjoyable to watch or listen to when she performed songs from her new album. And yet I like music that makes me think I probably ought to like her music. So, in the spirit of capturing what an old fuddy-duddy I am, I decided to create the above picture.
The most obvious example, as the picture highlights, is that I really like Queen. If Freddie Mercury makes sense to me, why doesn’t Gaga? Or, to put it differently, if I like “Radio Ga Ga,” why don’t I like Lady Gaga? Is it just that she’s completely derivative of things I already like (and have liked for a very long time) and thus I don’t need her?[1]
Is there something more to it that I’m just not recognizing in my old age?[2]
[1] Having said all of this, I should note that I don’t hold the position that no one should like Lady Gaga. Indeed, I’m perfectly happy for every generation to have its Freddie Mercury. The whole Gaga thing just doesn’t make sense to me, since I already have my own Freddie Mercury — and, of course, prefer him to this one in every way.
[2] Apart from the fact that I’m unnecessarily antagonizing what is probably the vast majority of people who follow this blog on Tumblr, which –- as you can now see -– I already recognize.
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![So … on Friday, Lady Gaga posted a lengthy video on her website to encourage her fans to get involved in politics — specifically with regard to repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
Then, apparently, at least one U.S. Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, responded to her via Twitter, expressing her support and her hope to speak with the performer that day.
Gaga, apparently not available over the weekend, tweeted back, “Talk monday?” to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer.
[Full article here.]
So, this isn’t exactly Bono-level activism.
But what should we say about Lady Gaga’s foray into the political arena: good, bad, something else entirely?](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l90vshLndu1qzy2emo1_400.jpg)
So … on Friday, Lady Gaga posted a lengthy video on her website to encourage her fans to get involved in politics — specifically with regard to repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
Then, apparently, at least one U.S. Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, responded to her via Twitter, expressing her support and her hope to speak with the performer that day.
Gaga, apparently not available over the weekend, tweeted back, “Talk monday?” to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer.
[Full article here.]
So, this isn’t exactly Bono-level activism.
But what should we say about Lady Gaga’s foray into the political arena: good, bad, something else entirely?
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