Is it too naive to actually think the people who rescued the miners were the actual heroes?
These two guys got stuck in a deep hole for two weeks. I feel sorry for them. They had a tough time and one of their friends was killed in the mine collapse.
But they are not heroes. Am I meant to tell little kids “Try to be like the two guys stuck down a hole.” When did the word ‘hero’ lose its true meaning?
I am with Eddie on this one. They should make as much as they can from the ordeal. I would.
I would just be very interested to see this happen one time and the people involved just go about their normal life in anonymity.
They’re heroes just as much as people who die of cancer are heroes. Maybe a bit more, in that they explicitly chose to go down into that shaft, whereas a cancer victim probably didn’t do anything quite so blatant to put himself at risk of the disease.
The local newsmedia has been handed a front-page story on a platter with all the trimmings and a big sign saying “USE ME” and you expect them to ignore it? That’s crazy talk.
So, you agree with me then…They are not heroes. People who die from cancer are not heroes either. I am not denying that anyone dying of cancer is a tragedy. But they are not heroes (unless of course they have done something to be a hero).
As for your second point- I obviously do not expect the media to ignore the story or the two guys not to get their million dollar payout from the media. I just said I would like to see it one time for the novelty.
Hero seems as good a word as any other.I would think any human maintaining dignity under duress and dire circumstances is a hero,a hero in the sense of a good example to follow.I don’t know what I would do under similar circumstances,probably blubber for few hours,then try to eat the weak
No it is not.Our language is being misused so often that we are losing the meanings of words. If the office worker who went to work and got killed in the Twin towers is a hero, what can you call the firefighters ?
Here are some definitions I like
a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities (factmonster)
2.A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life (American heritage dictionary).
3.A person normally becomes courageous by performing an extraordinary and praiseworthy deed. A hero normally fulfills the definitions of what is considered good and noble in the originating culture(wikipedia on hero)
Going by these definitions, being stuck down a hole does not qualify you as a hero. But probably qualifies a lot of the rescue workers who got them out of the hole.
1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
b : an illustrious warrior
c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities
d : one that shows great courage
2 a : the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work
b : the central figure in an event, period, or movement
I think the news folks go for 1c and 1d, which are semi-applicable at best. But if you think of the nightly news as a collection of vignettes, the literary defitinition at 2b fits nicely.
That said, this kind of linguistic inflation bugs the heck out of me. Right after 9-11, someone decided that all firefighters were heroes. So that means the new guy who has only ever put out one grease fire has demonstrated the same qualities as the ones who died rescuing folks from the Twin Towers? Not buying it.
I have often wondered about this myself. I always thought of heroes as those who sacrifice or risk their lives for the good of others, whether it be actually saving a life or protecting another or championing/defending an ideal/principle/cause. I don’t see dying of cancer as heroic, but if that person or anyone else raises awareness for prevention/enlightenment, then yes. If a trapped miner is a hero, then by the same logic is not David Blaine a hero? Both willingly enter a hazzardous situation, both are trained, both take precautions and use safety gear and both do it for money. I don’t mean to belittle the ordeal and suffering of the trapped miners. It is indeed a horrible experience. But they are not heroes in my book.
For my own opinion… getting stuck in an accident and dying or surviving a horrible ordeal doesn’t make you a hero. Helping to save someone else’s life while you’re both stuck might, though.
Well, keeping one’s head in an extremely dangerous and potentially fatal situation should count for something… It could save your own life, as well as any companion’s.
Seriously- if not heroic, then certainly smart, well-trained and brave as hell.
One could make the argument that all gold miners are heroes, because they risk their lives to improve other peoples’ lives, and that the ones who got trapped reminded us of this. In this sense, the gold miners that got trapped were no more heroes than the ones who through chance didn’t get trapped, but they make better representatives because you can say with certainty that they risked their lives.
Maybe the answer is some people are heroes to some people.If I think a particular teacher is my hero,that doesn’t mean all teachers are heroes.If i think my father is my heroes,it hardly holds that all fathers are heroes.If I think a guy who gets trapped in a hole makes me hope I would behave in the same way,then he’s my hero.It just seems everyone takes a particular situation and tries to apply the term hero to all situations.
It’s a relic of a time when we considered labor to have it’s own intrinsic dignity, and we respected people for simply doing what it takes to keep society going. It’s easy to sit here and forget that a miner had to mine that gold that makes the circuits on your computer work, and times like this remind us that there are guys down there risking their lives in a big dark pit so that we can have this.
I agree that the rescuers were the heroes, not the miners who were trapped.
But I don’t agree that “sacrifice for others” is the defining factor for heroism. Many people fight - and win - against enormous odds in non-altruistic ways, and because they set an example for the rest of us, they are true heroes.
And maybe “setting an example for the rest of us” shouln’t be the defining criterion either. If someone is on a deserted island, unseen by anyone else, and he works his ass off to stay alive and sane, isn’t he a hero?
The news media is always looking for ‘fresh meat’. That’s all they are. 100 years ago they would have died in that tunnel. So, I guess we can give thanks for the progress science has made and hopefully put up with what the media does.
They’re not heroes. But, everyone can get their 15 minutes of fame in this media dirven age.
O.K., so it’s 2 weeks now rather than 15 minutes… Same thing.
