4 ms·
One can be a great person without being a good person. Something I feel people forget all to often. We like to idealize those that accomplish much, but we also
by uhhhhhhh 8y ago
One can be a great person without being a good person. Something I feel people forget all to often.
We like to idealize those that accomplish much, but we also like to ignore that those accomplishments come with sacrifices that many aren't willing to make and a focus and drive that inverts many peoples optimal live balance on its head.
- drpgq 8y agoNever meet your heroes.
- Nasrudith 8y agoI suspect that many of the accomplished people are less than sane and pursue things for neurotic reasons but get results. It is a known thing that many political figures lost their father young. Of course it is possible to be balanced and successful but the obsession leads to over-representation and the examples are outliers by definition essentially - otherwise it wouldn't be worth noting.
- lazyasciiart 8y agoI've never heard that politicians thing - do you have any references on that?
- Nasrudith 8y agohttps://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/08/absent-fathers-political-leaders-like-bill-clinton-ronald-reagan-gerald-ford-and-paul-ryan-often-develop-coping-mechanisms-in-childhood-that-may-make-them-effective-leaders.amp https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/news-and-politics/201... It might be a bit spurious but that is a fairly strong trend.
- mmsimanga 8y agoAgreed. I am often surprised that not more people have learned this. As far back as high school (over 20 years ago), I learned that guys good in football that brought glory to our school were not necessarily the best people to hang out with. Some were idiots, to be frank, but on the field, they were a marvel to watch on the field. Since then I have always separated the man from his heroics.
- ctchocula 8y agoI agree with this. There are countless examples of this in real life: Lewis Carroll (accusations of pedophilia), Roman Polanski (great filmmaker but charged with statutory rape), Woody Allen (another great filmmaker but cheated on his wife with their adopted daughter who he ended up marrying), Winston Churchill (helped defeat Fascism but many think he caused the Bengal famine that caused death of many Indians). People have trouble with having two opinions of someone: one in terms of their professional achievements and another of their morality. I think it's a bit similar to doublethink.
- mr_toad 8y agoChurchill was also largely responsible for the Gallipoli campaign. It’s actually remarkable that anyone could have a political career after a disaster of that scale.