A Really Audacious Thought: Selling Scientists as Heroes

In The One Thing You Need to Know by Marcus Buckingham, the author writes about success in business, but many of his ideas also apply to the concept of showing scientists as contemporary heroes worthy of our admiration.  

Buckingham says that a society's choice of heroes predicts the future behavior of its members. In other words, people become what or who they emulate.

But if we look at those America chooses to anoint as heroes today, we see those who actually behave in heroic ways, such as first responders, but we also see a great many poor role models being put forth as "heroes" by the forces of common culture -- maladjusted actresses and actors, sports figures, politicians, and many others who are not deserving of our admiration.

Not deserving, no, but why do they receive so much positive attention?

Because they have been SOLD to us as an idea. We didn't choose them as people to look up to, but we have been led to believe that they are admirable, largely to achieve marketing goals. 

But ... they have no leadership value.

Now consider scientists. Astronauts are very much admired, but only a small handful of very motivated people will be able to emulate them.

What about other scientists? Today's students could admire the scientists in their lives if they knew who they were. By admiring them, many children will want to emulate them.

A well-dressed young veterinarian was recently asked if she ever described herself as a scientist. "Funny you ask," she replied. "I recently said something to my third grade son about being a scientist and he was confused. He never thought of me as a scientist."

She agreed that scientists need to be more visible, and pointing out that many scientists on television, especially those on exploration or animal shows, do not explicitly term themselves "scientists."  Perhaps they should start.