Toggle Hero Worship
Published on 2025-09-10
~ Everyone has a case of hero worship. Hero-worship distorts your thinking. So it'd be great if you could toggle it off at will. Recently, I've discovered that I can do this, to an extent. How is this possible? Elementary induction, my dear reader!
First, consider those who were once a hero to you. Personally, Socrates was once my hero. I used to go around telling people that he was the wisest man ever, that I viewed him as my master, that I would follow any command of his. Then, upon learning more of science and rationality, I realized "wait a minute, I know a lot of things!" And Socrates was my hero no more. (No doubt, everyone has been there.)
So I did somehow toggle my hero worship off in that case. And in many other cases. I have heroes like dogs have fleas.
Second, consider what the transition felt like. For me, it felt like "wait a minute, he's just some guy, why do I have to defer to him?". More-over, focusing on the transition taught me what it is like when I have a case of hero-worship.
Third, consider those cases where you temporarily toggle your hero worship. Right now, I've got a number of folks who I sometimes view as a hero, sometimes not. Mostly the change occurs when they attack something sacred to me, take the Wrong Position on politics, or opine on a topic I know more about. For a moment, I toggle my hero-worship off.
This gives me plenty of opportunity to notice the mental motions, and interrupt them if need be. Whether that's stopping myself from criticizing my hero, or stopping myself from resorting to cope. Step three is quite powerful because interventions help determine causal structure.
After (somehow) managing to notice and analyse these cases, you should have a shot at triangulating the requisite mental motion to toggle hero worship at will.
So now, if you meet your hero on the road, you can kill Him.
Note: Developing a toggle for hero-worship may benefit from other skills, like Seeing with Fresh Eyes, Escaping a Rut, Focusing and Remembrancy.