Role Models

[monoxide_child]

Without role models or idols noone would aspire to greatness and the world would be a boring place.

yeah
people want what they don't have just cuz someone else has it

 

[Maxim1110]

No role models for me.

In my opinion, the only ones that could possibly ever be role models to young children should be parents or perhaps older brothers and sisters. Then again, those parents need to teach the child that it is to make its own choices and go its own way and not to become exactly as their parents.

"Tabula rasa" in Latin, is basically the keyphrase of existentialism. You begin as a blank individual, you'll have to fill in yourself along the way.

Now, I don't think it's absolutely blank and only filled in by you. Of course there are always certain influences from outside that affect you. Some of which you can control, some of which you can't. However, it's up to you to decide for how much you let those influences affect you. In the end you're responsible for your own actions and when something goes wrong you'll have to look at yourself first.

And then we come to a common problem of modern day western society: the role models. Everytime something goes wrong people immediately start pointing their finger at others. Many parents are the worst in this, probably. When something happens to their children it's always the fault of MTV, violent games etc. Hardly anyone says to themselves "well let's see what I could've done to prevent this and see what I can do to prevent it in the future." The message is: take your own responsibility and do it as much as you're able to.

 

[Chastise]

And then we come to a common problem of modern day western society: the role models. Everytime something goes wrong people immediately start pointing their finger at others. Many parents are the worst in this, probably. When something happens to their children it's always the fault of MTV, violent games etc. Hardly anyone says to themselves "well let's see what I could've done to prevent this and see what I can do to prevent it in the future." The message is: take your own responsibility and do it as much as you're able to.

Partially agreed.

But there are, or at least should be, limits between praising someone as a role model and pointlessly worshiping him. I think most of the problems that you've mentioned has something to do with the latter, ergo starts the finger pointing. No good comes out of extremity.

As for the role model issue, I think anyone can be a role model as long as he/she is not related to 4chan, and that rules out most of the bad examples.

 

[Maxim1110]

Good point. Defining that thin line between praising and worshipping is difficult though. But indeed: there is no harm in liking someone for whatever reason and (in some cases) follow their examples. One gets the most values from their parents, and that's important as well. You cannot just throw someone into the deep and see what happens.

At the same time, I think it's important to always keep questioning. Certain values will be superimposed by your parents (for example), but it is important to question those. Why is that important? Not only is that important for one to be able to create their own set of values that they find important, but learning to question certain things also is an important part of ones development.

 

[monoxide_child]

Many parents are the worst in this, probably. When something happens to their children it's always the fault of MTV, violent games etc. Hardly anyone says to themselves "well let's see what I could've done to prevent this and see what I can do to prevent it in the future."

like when marilyn manson was blamed for the columbine incident

 

[monoxide_child]

"Tabula rasa" in Latin, is basically the keyphrase of existentialism. You begin as a blank individual, you'll have to fill in yourself along the way.

i thought "tabula rasa" had to do with "nurture vs nature" saying that the world around us shapes us
it is used to describe why "poverty-stricken" areas have more crime than "rich" neighborhoods