Issue 22/122 示范

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issue 22/122

Issue 122 study heroes to understand society

122)The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Issue 22 Claim: The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models.

Reason: Heroes and role models reveal a society's highest ideals.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.


Given the complexity of the modern society, scholars and researchers are always looking for some shortcut for better understanding the character of a society.  Some propose that one should examine the heroes and role models chosen by the society as these outstanding figures represent the society’s highest ideals.  I do not agree that heroes and role models always reflect the society’s highest ideals as many of the elite figures were selected by the government or big corporations to propagate a given set of values or ideals.  As a result, these men and women cannot serve as a realistic sample for us to understand the society.  Some people may argue that the proposed approach is the best considering its cost-effectiveness.  I would argue that in the age of big data, we can analyze the behaviors of ordinary people quantitatively at reasonable costs.  

It is often the case that heroes and role models are chosen by the powerful elite in a society according to the mainstream ideology. Consider the case of Lei Feng who was handpicked by Chairman Mao as an exemplary role model for the people in China to serve the people and the party altruistically. While many people at the time joined the “learn from Leifeng” campaign enthusiastically, in retrospect, it is clear that expecting people to be selfless is unrealistic and naive.  Only after the Chinese government recognized the pursuit of self-interest as basic human nature and reform its economic system, the Chinese economy could then realize its full potential.  As the example of Leifeng clearly illustrates, since the government may be involved in selecting or building role models, we cannot reliably understand the society and its people through studying the heroes.

In western nations, where the power of the government is limited, role models and heroes are often selected or constructed by sophisticated campaigns sponsored by big corporations. Most celebrities in movie and TV industries or competitive sports follow the similar paths.  They would first gain recognition through their outstanding performance in their respective fields and celebrated as heroes or role models by the public.  In the process, the big corporations often played an important part through its influence on the mass media.  The heroes or role models would then appear in different TV commercials and advertising as spokesmen to endorse particular products and services.  The public were made to believe that, by purchasing the products or services, they would more closely identify with the heroes or role models. Since the whole process is driven by commercial interests, it is clear that the heroes and models are more likely to reflect the values promoted by big corporations rather than the genuine preferences of the ordinary people.  

Some people may argue that, despite its limitation in validity, this proposed method is still superior to other approaches due to the relative ease of collecting data about the heroes and role models. After all, news stories and other written materials about the celebrities are abundant.  This argument would be convincing 20 years ago when the Internet was still in its infancy. But nowadays, with the ubiquitousness of social media and the resulting availability of the big data about ordinary people, it is also fairly easy to understand behaviours of ordinary people.  For example, using the latest technologies of natural language processing, one can easily analyze millions of tweets and Facebook posts generated by ordinary people on a variety of issues and have a good understanding of their opinions and feelings on these issues. By tracking the credit card transactions of people around the world, marketing companies can also understand the consumer behaviors of the society as a whole.  
  
In conclusion, as I argue cogently above, the proposed approach is not the best way to understand the character of the society as the choice of role models is often heavily influenced by the powerful political or commercial forces.  Rather, the more sensible approach is through the analysis of big data that is increasingly available through the social media.  


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