41–50 of 68 posts
Ayn Rand - Creator of a philosophy based on rational self interest.
Beethoven - His love of his work was so deep that despite nature destroying his ability to physically appreciate his own work, he pressed on creating.
Really an amazing man, in his own little corner of the world. He's also the only person whose advice I trust because he's the only one I know that thinks like me. My friends and acquaintances don't take things as seriously as my father and I. My dad has that extreme practicality that comes from growing up poor. He's the only one that I ask myself what he would do in tough situations.
And he's loyal to a fault. I know without a doubt that he would give his life for his family. There's few humans in the modern world that have that kind of nobility. Indeed, he seems like a creature from an earlier age, sturdy, stoic, rejecting everything I dislike about modern culture. Maybe I get that from him.
Edit: All the famous people, they're too abstract for me. I admire some of them, sure. I'm grateful for what they've done. However, they can never be my "heroes".
A very similar thread from three days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=152805
Nietzsche David Foster Wallace Ted Kaczynski
Anarcho-primitivism is a odd ideal for someone posting on a technology site.
* Bobby Fischer: The world had never seen such monomania before and probably never will again. (Of course, he went mad in the end.)
* Lennon and McCartney: The greatest popular music composers since the Gershwins.
* Kurt Gödel: The greatest logician of all time.
* Bach and Chopin: The greatest composers for the keyboard of all time.
Epictetus - Perspective is everything.
Danc - Mastery through practice.
Like others pg mentioned, he writes the music for himself not for the audiences. The sincerity and lack of compromise really comes through - his music is an unconventional blend of gypsy and punk (go to a concert and for the first time ever you'll see a mosh pit in front of an accordionist), many of his songs have a lot of humour (something painfully lacking from most music), he sings half in Ukrainian etc and yet him and Gogol Bordello have achieved a fair amount of success.
I know it may sound a bit stupid since its 12 year olds would usually have music heroes, but I'm 24 and he's the only musician I'd ever call a hero.
It may be just me, but his music, lyrics and actions all all exude the same message: do what you love doing, be a decent human being, be sincere and you'll do alright. And that's an awesome message, regardless of what you choose to do in life.
1. morally, I wonder what Buffy would do.
2. for showing that it's possible to succeed without selling out, Whedon.
3. for challenging me to stick to my beliefs, J.D. Salinger.
4. for a glimpse of honor, compassion, and beauty, Harper Lee.
5. Anne Frank.
One German-born girl, three American writers, and one fictional character. On the surface they don't look like super-heroes, but all have affected the way I think and view the world.
What's sobering is that none of my heroes are on anybody else's list.
Richard Feynman - For his integrity and for insisting on skepticism and rigor in everything.
Robert Heinlein - Along with John W. Campbell, he brought science fiction away from ray-guns and bug-eyed monsters and made it interesting and thought-provoking. A lot of people went into science and engineering because of his influence.
Raoul Wallenberg - He stood up to the Nazis and Hungarian fascists to prevent thousands of people from being sent to the death camps.
Douglas Bader - PG mentioned him in his essay; this is a man who lost his legs in a flying accident. His disability didn't stop him from joining the Royal Air Force and piloting a fighter plane during the War. Not once did he feel sorry for himself; instead he was flying over Europe killing Nazis.
Norm Zadah - He went from being a professor of CS at Stanford to running a hedge fund and being a championship poker player. When a female friend of his was rejected from Playboy, he went ahead and started his own magazine, Perfect 10. So far, he's lost nearly $46 million on Perfect 10, and he's switched to web distribution, but he doesn't care, he likes his work. Truly a renaissance man.