[ExI] Heroism without self-sacrifice

[Anne Corwin]

Max More <max at maxmore.com> wrote:
Your mission--should you choose to accept it--is to reconceptualize 
the hero myth, removing the core element of self-sacrifice.

I'm guessing the PhD thing is a joke, but I wrote the following in a blog entry a while back:

"...in the real world, there is not so clear of a relationship between sacrifice and heroism as there is in story; in real life, you might very well be able to save both the preschooler and the old lady lying on the railroad tracks.  

Real life is not a word problem in a law school test book; in real life, we have options, and we can innovate. So while trade-offs are inevitable, the trade-offs we are likely to encounter in our daily existence are not going to be (generally speaking) as clear-cut as what we see in film and literature. 

In books, there often seems to be a kind of prescience on the part of the heroes; they seem to "know" that their death, if it happens, will end up saving innocents. In reality, on the other hand, there is just as much chance that the would-be hero's "sacrifice" will lead to nothing more than one extra body for the cleanup crew."

- Anne

       
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