The book of questions, Volume 68
Friday is The Book of Questions Day around these parts.
Today’s question comes from the aptly titled book “The Book of Questions” by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.
And here it is, Question 155.
Would you be willing to make a substantial sacrifice to have any of the following: your picture on a postage stamp, your statue in a park, a college named after you, a Nobel prize, a national holiday in your honor?
Are honors more likely to come to those who seek them or to those who don’t care about fame and think only of their work? How much do fame and accomplishment impress you? Does just knowing you’ve accomplished something worthwhile mean as much to you as getting attention and praise for the accomplishment?
Well this is just a crock pot full of slow-cooking psychological stew, isn’t it? Lots to answer, lots to explain.
No to the whole thing. I’m not quite sure what a substantial sacrifice entails but I know it involves giving up more than I want to for something I’m not that jazzed about.
I’m not cool with my photo or likeness so the stamp and the statue are immediately out.
With the exception of my middle name, I got no beef with my handle but I still don’t fancy strolling about a college campus and seeing Cardiogirl etched in stone on the facade.
A Nobel prize isn’t doing it for me either and I don’t want people bitching about all of the government offices being closed on Cardiogirl Day. And everyone knows, if a holiday is going to be named after you, you need three names or just one strong name, i.e., Martin Luther King Day or Columbus Day.
It’s a tough call, I think, regarding honors coming to those who seek them versus those who let their work speak for itself. I really think that’s 50/50.
With enough tenacity and self promotion I think there’s a solid shot at fame. But fame and accomplishment are two very different things. Look at Perez Hilton.
I’m not into fame based on the exclusionary and unbalanced aspect of it. I do not like the idea of one person’s worth being perceived as that much greater than another person’s. Now maybe that’s not your definition of fame.
But when I think of someone who’s famous I think of the fact that said person receives a lot of perks based on his or her well-known face. No one’s closing down the mall for me so I can do my Christmas shopping.
It’s just a fact that the rich and famous generally receive preferential treatment whether it’s first in line for a donated liver (raises eyebrows in Steve Jobs’ direction) or the best table at Sardi’s in New York — where the dress code is smart casual.
Don’t even try to tell me that the Maitre d’ would consider my Converse low tops — brand new or comfortably worn — smart casual. But I’ll bet a pair of Chucks on Tom Cruise’s dogs would be considered smart casual and fashion forward.
Lastly, knowing I’ve accomplished something worthwhile does mean much more to me than public accolades. I work hard to make it to the top of the Fitlinxx charts each month and I’m looking forward to patting myself on the back when I hit 50,000 words.
And just for the record, I would be admiring 100% on that widget right now if I didn’t have sick kids in the house.
You could say I’m a hypocrite in this case and that I am, indeed, looking for public accolades by posting that NaNo widget over there.
If you said that, you would be right.
Would you be willing to make a substantial sacrifice to have any of the following: your picture on a postage stamp, your statue in a park, a college named after you, a Nobel prize, a national holiday in your honor?
Absolutely not. None of those things being any long term benefit to me or the rest of humanity. Therefore, they are worthless. The *sacrifice* may have worth of some description, but that’s separate and distinct from the postage stamp. If the sacrifice did have some worth, then I’d perform it, but I’d do it for the benefit that it bought, not to have my name on a college. All of those fripperies don’t actually mean anything worthwhile.
Are honors more likely to come to those who seek them or to those who don’t care about fame and think only of their work?
Honour is different to fame. A soldier may receive honour for performing an act of some kind during war, but the only thing he gets is a medal. He receives honour, but not fame. Nobody knows who he is outside of a small circle of people.
How much do fame and accomplishment impress you?
Fame doesn’t. All those legwarmers?
Just kidding. :D Accomplishment, depending on what it is, impresses me a lot. Screaming “look at me!!!” and getting your boobs out doesn’t impress me at all. That’s not difficult. I could do that. Dame Ellen Macarthur impresses me. She did a really difficult thing – she navigated her way round the globe. Katie Price is famous for being a skank with breast implants. Again, I could do that. That’s not difficult.
Does just knowing you’ve accomplished something worthwhile mean as much to you as getting attention and praise for the accomplishment?
It means more. One can spend one’s entire life worshipping the god of other people’s opinion, but it doesn’t get you anywhere. I’d rather live on the fringes of society and be happy, than sublimate who I am and what I do to please someone else. Nobody else is capable of understanding the exact reason why I do something, so it can’t mean as much to them. For example, I make a bowl of soup. Someone could eat it, but they couldn’t give me the pleasure I got from making it.
Everyone is hypocritical in their own way. It’s possible for two opposing truths to live together in the same mind.
Sadly, Solomon, I knew who Katie Price was, but not Dame Ellen Macarthur. And I was really surprised that she’s so young. Mostly however, I fell off my seat laughing at her home town — Whatstandwell.
That’s a wild name for a town. Is Whatsitsbadly a couple miles north of there?
It wouldn’t surprise me. I know of a village called Little Piddle. :D
no for me. i don’t care to be THAT famous or well-known, just “through the grapevine” heard of. don’t need anything named after me. a little attention or for 3 people out of 200 to have actually heard of me is fine. i still need to be able to go to wal-mart w/o a fuss.
I also like the idea of very slight fame. That’s why the idea of a published author is so fun. I’d be out there hiding in plain sight.
And I’d be able to read UsWeekly in line at Walmart in peace.
I’ll take a Nobel Prize, but I’m gonna have to have “substantial sacrifice” defined for me. And no tricks, either! Like, do I have to give up cupcakes for a week? No Zumba for a month? It really depends. None of the other honors appeal to me. But a Nobel? That would be kinda cool.
Huh, I’m just not that down with the Nobel Prize.
However I, too, would be extremely pissed off if I agreed to no cupcakes, no exercise and chopping my ponytail off, only to find out there was a hidden loophole.
I don’t like this question. People who earn these things have normally sacrificed something, time if anything.
On a basic level, absolutely not. I don’t like to sacrifice unless absolutely necessary. I’m selfish that way.
Yeah, I don’t think many people are down with sacrificing. I know I’m not. And if I’m going to, it’s got to be one hell of an awesome reward.
I think it would cool to win a Nobel Prize, but not by sacrificing anything. I love my life, and couldn’t imagine changing something. Recognition from people I care about is more important to me than from strangers. Even then, I don’t really concern myself with getting “recognised” (note proper english spelling :) ) for doing something.
Having said that, if I repeatedly ran into a burning building to save orphans, and the top story in the news the next day was about Paris Hilton’s new boyfriend, or that Obama actually bowed to an old man in respect, then, yeah, I might be a little cheesed. Not surprised (especially not surprised with Fox “news”), just freaking cheesed.
Yes, I did note the proper spelling and I must admit you Canucks are starting to infiltrate my mind with your wily Us. As I’ve been typing away at NaNo I keep finding myself typing “favourite” and then Uncle Sam’s spell check bitch slaps me into American’ submission.
I like that expression, “cheesed as in, to be cheesed.”
Isn’t there a bit of money involved with the Nobel Prize? I think I’d pick that, but I guess it would really have to depend what kind of sacrifice I would need to make…I mean, would it necessarily be more than I sacrifice now?
There is? I thought that one was totally about the honor and no cash.
Stops to Google, finds the following statement and reconsiders her previous answer.
(The Nobel Prize) offers great prestige and a sizable cash reward, paying around $1.4m to the winner.
I’m going to say yes. The sacrifice necessary in this scenario is definitely more than you currently sacrifice. The sacrifice will require (pauses to consider it) an increase of 57%.
And if it is discovered — after you achieved the honor — that you sacrificed just 56% more than you do now, you will be stripped of the honor.
Don’t shoot the messenger; I just report the news.
Oh, the irony. …No. Yes, I’m an actress. So, that entails a certain amount of sacrifice to do what I love. However, doing what I love also means working hard, and trying to do well. IF that means I end up winning an award, that’s ok with me, but that’s not my goal. My goal is to be a working actress – meaning I’m good enough and consistent enough to get enough work to help support my family.
Even bigger irony: I am NOT seeking fame. In fact, I’d rather not have fame… fame involves paparazzi and people prying into your personal life. No, THANK YOU. Also, I’d say that true fame – for people like Meryl Streep, or Dr. Salk (inventor of the dead virus polio vaccine) – comes because they work their behinds off and are good at what they do. Celebrity (i.e. Perez or Paris) is entirely different, and rather more fleeting.
…And, as I’ve established here before… I, too, hate praise. Just having done something well is frequently good enough for me. However, I am learning to accept praise of my acting ability (especially because I did manage to have approximately 10 minutes of bringing down the house at Lincoln Center… without ever uttering a sound – which felt AMAZING, so I, um, feel rather proud of that, and was very pleased – though embarrassed – from the praise. Also, my ability to bring down the house was pretty much dependent on the singers and actors around me.) .
That said, of course famous and/or accomplished actors impress me. They get the jobs I want!
That’s really interesting Rebecca. It’s funny that I immediately assume a “successful” actor becomes a world-famous movie star. But what about all of those character actors?
When I see that one of those folks have died (that’s when I tend to see them) I remember them fondly and consider them successful. Really I think success is doing something you love, cheesy as that sounds.
And yes, being hounded by the paparazzi would suck it like no one’s business.
Unless the sacrifice is really small, like no more tuna sandwiches for the rest of my life (hint, I don’t eat those smelly things) then I would not do this. None of those honors really interest me. No, if instead of Nobel Peace Prize it would be “End of all wars on this planet”, I would be willing to sacrifice A Lot.
I like the idea of joining you on the tuna sandwich band wagon. I could easily handle that for the same reason.
“Would you be willing to make a substantial sacrifice to have any of the following: your picture on a postage stamp, your statue in a park, a college named after you, a Nobel prize, a national holiday in your honor?”
A substantial sacrifice? I’m scarcely willing to make a substantial sacrifice in order to get my hair washed. A STATUE? A NATIONAL FREAKING HOLIDAY? Now that’s just *mortifying.* That’s a whole level of narcissism exclusive to politicians and Donald Trump.
“Are honors more likely to come to those who seek them or to those who don’t care about fame and think only of their work?”
Genuine, honored-by-your-peers honors? That comes from focusing first on your work, though at some point, you have to promote it.
Then again, you could view cold, hard cash as a kind of honor, and can someone tell me exactly WHAT the fuck it is Heidi and Spencer do to afford that house on “The Hills” again?
“How much do fame and accomplishment impress you?”
Isn’t fame beginning to seem a little pedestrian these days? Like, really, all you need to have a little is some breast implants, some bisexuality, and the fuckwittery to change your name to Tila Tequila?
Real accomplishment, though, is a far rarer bird, and often lives in a quiet room or down an unsuspecting street. Real accomplishment, you impress me, and I wish more attention was devoted to you than to Miley Cyrus’s Twitter page.
“Does just knowing you’ve accomplished something worthwhile mean as much to you as getting attention and praise for the accomplishment?”
This speaks to me, as I’ve recently completed a novel, and in a few days, I’ll be sending it out to agents for representation. And just having finished the damn thing was a major milestone and a lifetime goal for me of which I’m quite proud. At the same time, do I want said agent to spark a bidding war that garners a million-dollar advance and see that baby hit the NY Times bestseller list? HELLZ to the yeah. ‘Cause I wanna celebrate writing that bitch with a vodka martini made in my diamond-encrusted shaker set, a girl’s gotta PAY FOR THAT THING SOMEHOW.
But doesn’t everyone want a little praise and reward for their accomplishments? I’m with the rest of y’all on *fame,* though. No thank yewwww. Because as we all know, along with fame comes her ugly, hypocritical, sex-tape hiding cousin, INFAMY. . .
It is a whole different species of animal — those folks who seek out fame. I guess I’m thinking mostly of the reality stars out there. The funny thing is that most of them, toward the end or after the 15 minutes, wish they hadn’t done it.
Yes, the standards of fame have fallen dramatically.
And amen on accomplishment.
Way to rock the novel, Tracy! Damn, I am bathing in your pride simply by very loose association.
Man, I want your book on the bestseller list partly to knock James Patterson’s ghost writers out of the top spots but mostly so I can say I sort of knew you when you were finding your agent.
Congratulations!
No
Bitchin’ answer LJ! Love your brevity.
No. I’m just not into that kind of sacrificing.
Now back to the important thing. What day is Cardiogirl day again? I think I need to get a new calendar. I looked through the whole thing and couldn’t find it.
You know, Tim, Cardiogirl Day is as elusive as the rarely seen jackalope.
It is located on the Mayan calendar and occurs at the end of the k’atun-cycle. It’s a floating holiday, in other words.
The good news, though, is that everyone gets a free protein bar and a pair of Converse low tops on Cardiogirl Day.
No.
“…it involves giving up more than I want to for something I’m not that jazzed about. ” Yeah. That about says it all.