I'd like to stake the claim for the greatest understatement of all time when I say - human beings are complex creatures!
It should naturally follow that a nuanced understanding of a person is necessary prior to forming an opinion or a perception.
If we were to break down nuance, it would mean 'applying the context test' - How does one behave under different circumstances - in public and more importantly when the guard is off.
This being the case, it always amazes me when fan boys 'paint their devotion' in broad strokes. If a person is a good sportsman, he should be a good politician, scientist, super hero and everything in between....
Why do we lose sight of objectivity when we admire someone ? More importantly, how do we end up admiring someone so deeply ?
Facebook is inundated with pages of fans who go out of the way to put their naivete and stupidity on display !!
Lately, some pages that I have been reading on Sachin Tendulkar and Abdul Kalam make me snicker and cringe which turns out to be quite a awkward feeling - to be honest!.
My take is that admiration should not be over bearing and should be limited to respect for a perspective offered or a service rendered like in the case of admiring (some of) our teachers/professors. Ultimately it should be the - experiences of the self - of whom we should be fan boys of! - no ?
The effect of the attitude is pretty profound. It's the reason why actors and sportsman are paid the way they are for a 10 second commercial - even when they endorse competing products.
It's also the reason for an increasingly partisan world - inadvertently most of us seem to be polarized around someone else's views as opposed to our own. In most cases, we don't have a view that's our own.
That being said, I'd like to clearly state that there is nothing wrong in following a person as long as we have clearly understood the boundaries within which our admiration should operate.
As long as we don't let go..
Disclosure 1 : Am a big admirer of Abdul Kalam myself. But in my opinion his fan boys make him look bad!
Disclosure 2 : Am an Objective fan of Sachin
Disclosure 3 : Am a Roger Federer and a Rahul Dravid fan boy, but only within the realms of their respective sports
It should naturally follow that a nuanced understanding of a person is necessary prior to forming an opinion or a perception.
If we were to break down nuance, it would mean 'applying the context test' - How does one behave under different circumstances - in public and more importantly when the guard is off.
This being the case, it always amazes me when fan boys 'paint their devotion' in broad strokes. If a person is a good sportsman, he should be a good politician, scientist, super hero and everything in between....
Why do we lose sight of objectivity when we admire someone ? More importantly, how do we end up admiring someone so deeply ?
Facebook is inundated with pages of fans who go out of the way to put their naivete and stupidity on display !!
Lately, some pages that I have been reading on Sachin Tendulkar and Abdul Kalam make me snicker and cringe which turns out to be quite a awkward feeling - to be honest!.
My take is that admiration should not be over bearing and should be limited to respect for a perspective offered or a service rendered like in the case of admiring (some of) our teachers/professors. Ultimately it should be the - experiences of the self - of whom we should be fan boys of! - no ?
The effect of the attitude is pretty profound. It's the reason why actors and sportsman are paid the way they are for a 10 second commercial - even when they endorse competing products.
It's also the reason for an increasingly partisan world - inadvertently most of us seem to be polarized around someone else's views as opposed to our own. In most cases, we don't have a view that's our own.
That being said, I'd like to clearly state that there is nothing wrong in following a person as long as we have clearly understood the boundaries within which our admiration should operate.
As long as we don't let go..
Disclosure 1 : Am a big admirer of Abdul Kalam myself. But in my opinion his fan boys make him look bad!
Disclosure 2 : Am an Objective fan of Sachin
Disclosure 3 : Am a Roger Federer and a Rahul Dravid fan boy, but only within the realms of their respective sports
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