Blog #47--The Opposite Complications Of Hero Worship

The human ego looks for heroes to follow. Even most natural leaders would rather find someone more perfect than themselves to tell them how best to live their lives. Unfortunately, we expect a hero to be perfect at all times, which is impossible. Eventually, every hero disappoints even his or her staunchest supporters.

Part of the problem is our definition of “perfect.” Many of us define the term on the basis of what we want. If our heroes continue to perform or make decisions that are consistent with our self-interests, they remain on the pedestal we created for them. Of course, our self-interests likely differ from others, so our definition of “perfect” is unique to each of us. No person, hero or otherwise, can live up to the highest standards of every individual’s expectations.

The ego’s job is to keep our body in balance and functioning. It does this through interaction between two opposite energies, which must share responsibilities for life to continue. But if our perspective is limited to a two-dimensional interpretation of our Universe, our heroes are perfect, or they are worthless to us. We want to follow them, so if they do something against our selfish interests, they become our enemies. For some, there is no middle ground between these two extremes.

There are many examples of this phenomenon; we have likely all behaved this way at one time or another. Once distrust is created, it is easy to assume the extreme. Presidents, religious leaders, journalists, military personnel and athletes are among those who take the brunt of these opposite reactions. They all have followers who will follow them blindly regardless, but they also create enemies simply by being human and thus inconsistent.

There is no enemy worse than one who wants revenge for a hero’s imperfections due to basic survival fear. After all, followers give up their power to their leaders. If a leader proves untrustworthy, the follower is left without direction or survival confidence. This extreme perspective may not subside, at least not until another potential hero crosses their paths.

The BeeGees are one of the musical groups I referred to in my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life.” A musical group composed of brothers, the BeeGees created one quality song after another for many years and made Hall of Fames both for their song writing and performing. However, like most of us, they also went through a dark period where some of their fans turned against them.

As I remember it, the BeeGees were at the forefront of the disco craze back in the late 1970’s. They were inspired to create upbeat music which, when used to accompany the movie “Saturday Night Fever,” became associated with a new type of dance requiring flexibility and fluidity to accomplish. They didn’t create the dancing, just the music.

Disco had a limited run of popularity, for several reasons. First of all, a majority of people couldn’t do it adequately. Second, some lacked partners willing to dance with them. Thirdly, a polarizing ego battle separating dancers from non-dancers magnified over time. Trained observers knew the fad was temporary, especially when Roller Disco came onto the scene. The only thing harder than disco for many non-dancers was trying to stay upright on roller skates.

Eventually, a rebellion against disco and its “in-crowd” destroyed what was left of the genre. The BeeGees became the whipping boy for the anti-disco crowd. So despite their many highly popular recordings prior to disco, they were suddenly persona non grata to some of their former fans. Hero love became hate.

Fortunately for music lovers, the BeeGees survived the down times to write a number of additional quality songs, although many people are still unaware of this fact. If anything, some of their newer songs have more lyrical depth than their earlier work. Two I mention in my book are “Spirits (Having Flown)” and “Immortality.” The BeeGees recovered to complete their life’s work on a high note, although there are still many who joke about them due to their disco days.

As the saying goes, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” The BeeGees wrote a number of outstanding songs that stand the test of time. Even their disco music is of high quality. We might not like disco dancing or the ego competitions that resulted from it, but the music can still be enjoyed once we let go of our biases.

In reality, we live in a world of at least four dimensions if we include time. Two-dimensional thinking is contrary to the truth of our existence. Like I recommend in my book, we benefit when we can trust our own counsel more. That way, we won’t end up following false leaders or glorifying heroes who cannot live up to our lofty assumptions about them. Sure, we’d love to have a perfected being leading us, but perfection is in the eyes of the beholder.

If we don’t create false expectations for those we wish to follow, we won’t feel jilted and angry when our leaders make inconsistent decisions. We will accept them for being equal and not superior to us. We will then be our own leaders, and hero worship will be unnecessary.

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