The Myth of the Individual Hero
This morning, I had a conversation with someone who worships individuality. “Individuals get things done,” he argued. “Individuals break free. Individuals light up the world.” It’s a common belief, and if we’re honest with ourselves, most of us have been conditioned to think this way. It’s in all our our movies, stories, myths, and religions. Individual effort. Individual grades. Individual work. Individual achievement. Individual intelligence. Individual strength. Individual salvation. In the dominant narrative — especially among the elite — it’s always about the individual.
But that’s bullshit. And it only takes twenty seconds of honest reflection to see why.
Think about the miracle you and I are experiencing right now. With just a click, you’re reading my words from anywhere in the world. That’s incredible. Growing up, my social circle was confined to the people physically near me. If you weren’t in the vicinity of my body, you practically didn’t exist. Now, I can reach you across oceans, time zones, and continents. But did one individual make this happen? Did a single great mind pull this off? No. This technological marvel — the internet, computers, global communication — was built by millions. Inventors, engineers, academics, miners, drillers, smelters, coders, marketers, distributors, and business owners all played a role. It took entire societies, generations of effort, and the collective intelligence of humanity. To believe otherwise — to think that history is shaped solely by a few “great men” — is a fantasy, and a stupid one.
Yes, CEOs and business leaders played a role, but only a part. And not even the most important part. They weren’t the inventors. They weren’t the engineers. They weren’t the miners. They weren’t the boots on the ground. They helped organize, sure, but the real work — the work that built this world — was done by the collective.
The Resistance to Reality
Of course, many will resist this basic and obvious truth. Some because they’ve been taught to see the world through the lens of individualism. Others because their wealth and power depend on it. Still others because it’s easier to believe in the myth of the lone genius than to acknowledge the messy, interconnected reality of human progress.
But reality doesn’t care about our illusions. Soon, we’ll all see what happens when a handful of so-called “great men” are left to run things. It won’t be pretty. A small group of poorly educated elites — propped up by AI, insulated from reality, and convinced of their own brilliance — has neither the intelligence nor the expertise to maintain complex global systems. They won’t be able stop the ecological collapse. They won’t halt the spread of disease. They won’t save the economy when it buckles under the weight of inequality. AI might scaffold them for a while, but it won’t save them forever. Systems will collapse, and fast — first in the U.S., then, inevitably, everywhere else.
Let’s hope our “leaders” are paying attention. Let’s hope they learn the lesson. The status quo is a path towards Debacle and species extinction. The way forward is to empower the people. Until we, as a species, internalize the truth that life on this planet is a collective effort, things will only get worse. Real progress, real solutions depend on our ability to work together, period. Survival of our species requires that we learn to value all life equally.
The Evidence
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