"...these stories tell you that even if you can't change the world, you can still solve your own problems." I think part of the criticism is that this statement

"...these stories tell you that even if you can't change the world, you can still solve your own problems." I think part of the criticism is that this statement is false in many cases. The psychological benefit of such stories is that we can comfort ourselves by telling others that if they didn't manage to cure their own leukemia and run a marathon while supporting three children and a disabled spouse, they just weren't creative and perseverant enough. A similar criticism can legitimately be made of glorifying war heroes. It makes it easier to pat ourselves on the back for sending them into a situation in which they can prove their resolve by avoiding death for a while, and we can ignore all the dumb schmucks who just got blown up right away -- they simply didn't show much resolve, did they. It's all sort of the converse of "the personal is political"...