This week I browsed, (can't call it reading) through an article on Linkedin about interview questions. There are many such articles. It's a form of entertainment I guess, because I don't see the value of it. Anyway, one of the questions was “who is your idol?”. I had to smile, tried to think of one, and came up with Robin Hood! Tell that to your future boss! It's not the whole story of course. It never is. My first Robin Hood was a fox and King John was a mean lion.
Funny characters. But I had also other heroes. My father's history books were full of them. Knights in shining armor like King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Prince Valiant (A comic book character). Sea heroes like Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Admiral Tromp, and Robert Surcouf (A French privateer). Or from Greek mythology Ulysses, Hercules, Jason and Perseus. Ooh, and I should not forget about my pop idols. There were many. From Chuck Berry to Lady Gaga, with a strong accent on what we call classic rock nowadays. Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones. Super rock formations! All heroes to me.
Then there are the heroes of science. Einstein, Bohr, Darwin, LaPlace, Lavoisier. They are people who made the world into what is today. You learn about them in class and think that's great!! Ooh, we also have Dutch heroes of painting. Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Vermeer, Escher, Van Gogh, Magritte, Ruysdael and Rubens.
I should not forget my space heroes! Buck Rogers, Dr Who, John Koenig (space 1999), Captain Apollo and Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica), Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, Jean Luc Picard, Captain Sisco. Yes I am a trekkie! Love also starwars. Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were everyone's hero when the first movie came.
As you are confronted by these people you see inspiration. All of them kindle some flame that is within you. And they they highlight a di
fferent aspect of yourself in the current phase of your life.Robin Hood gives you a sense of fairness, King Arthur and his knights a sense for justice and romance. The artists instill the rhythm and beauty of life. The mathematicians and physicists give you an inkling about how the universe works. The heroes of future can make you think about what mankind can achieve.
My heroes change also. Even I still admire Einstein I have begun to like Richard Feyman maybe even more. A colorful man who paid his own bills because he could not stand to fill a form for every trip he made. He got stoned, played music in a night club and was the architect of Quantum Electro Dynamics! Wonderful character! And Richard Dawkins replaced Darwin himself. I admire that totally British style of his. The way he can poke fun of his opponents is really incredible. So Dawkins is a hero, even though he is sometimes a bit fanatic about his atheism.
Now that my heroes have changed, developed to a new stage or sometimes been dumped and replaced by others. That's good. It's reflects the ever changing nature of your own development. My heroes will accompany me. All my life.