7-1/2 minutes of fame and our shrinking world

[catherine]

Random post...

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars and the NFL superstar Von Miller didn't know who Elvis is. Then of course there was that famous incident in which Kanye West's fans were happy that he gave the "unknown" Paul McCartney a chance at fame by singing a duet with him.

Yes, it makes me feel old, but I also recall criticism of the internet that that we now self-select our information and therefore miss out on the broad context of what is going on in the world.

I'm not saying that every young person needs to know Elvis or the Beatles--but it seems our worlds are getting smaller, and fame is more and more fleeting. Maybe there is no qualitative reason people should know John Hancock or Shakespeare or Elvis. What do you think?

[shadowmoss]

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

[Williamsmith]

People have Facebook and social media to help them pretend they themselves are famous. They don't have time to admire other really famous people.

[cdttmm]

People have Facebook and social media to help them pretend they themselves are famous. They don't have time to admire other really famous people.

This.

[Miss Cellane]

That's a very good point, Williamsmith.

And also, there is access to so much more information these days that it is hard to pick and choose.

And the two people mentioned in the OP? Entertainers. I didn't know the movie stars my parents talked about. They didn't know the singers their children idolized. Unless you search out the history of entertainment, you won't know anything about it. It's not taught in schools. If those same people didn't have a clue who Herbert Hoover was, that's when I'd start to worry.

[Rogar]

Von Miller may not know who Tchaikovsky is either. Fifty years from now, if civilization hasn't collapsed, most people will still know of Elvis, The Beatles, Glenn Miller, and Tchaikovsky but Von Miller's name will probably be lost. He's just a football player. Many of the younger people I know realize that music from the late 60's and early 70's was especially good. What I worry about is that football players are some of the last hero roles left for kids. Astronauts are commonplace, explorers have explored most everything, and presidents and politicians have sullied their profession.

I'm more concerned when I hear dribbles of tests and surveys where young people don't know who fought in WWII, why Nixon resigned, or what the Cuban missile crisis was about.

[catherine]

And the two people mentioned in the OP? Entertainers. I didn't know the movie stars my parents talked about. They didn't know the singers their children idolized. Unless you search out the history of entertainment, you won't know anything about it. It's not taught in schools. If those same people didn't have a clue who Herbert Hoover was, that's when I'd start to worry.

I agree--it was just startling to me to hear of these particularly famous entertainers just falling through a hole in the culture--when they actually were so instrumental in building the culture--at least the music culture.

And, yes, more concerning is the fundamental knowledge about people who have truly changed the world. Or even key dates in history. Younger people have absolutely no clue when the Declaration of Independence was signed--for us 1776 rolls off our tongue without thinking of it. Again, perhaps there's no reason that they NEED to know this.. but it seems to speak to the realignment of priorities--even in schools. My son is a history teacher in a community college, and history programs are being cut. And as shadowmoss said...

I agree that Facebook is a culprit, and is part of that self-selection process that is cutting us off from the rest of the world. It actually makes me think that I have to try harder to read more daily papers.

[LDAHL]

Von Miller may not know who Tchaikovsky is either. Fifty years from now, if civilization hasn't collapsed, most people will still know of Elvis, The Beatles, Glenn Miller, and Tchaikovsky but Von Miller's name will probably be lost. He's just a football player. Many of the younger people I know realize that music from the late 60's and early 70's was especially good. What I worry about is that football players are some of the last hero roles left for kids. Astronauts are commonplace, explorers have explored most everything, and presidents and politicians have sullied their profession.

I'm more concerned when I hear dribbles of tests and surveys where young people don't know who fought in WWII, why Nixon resigned, or what the Cuban missile crisis was about.

I certainly agree with you that there is a big difference between having an understanding of our core cultural foundation (although reasonable people might disagree about what to include) and pop ephemerata. I absolutely agree with you that we'd be a better, stronger society if we chose our heroes from our soldiers, scientists and philanthropists rather than ballplayers, pop-singers and actors.

And I absolutely agree that we would be well-served by a better general understanding of history. Perhaps that would have eliminated some of the rank nonsense being spouted in connection with our current electoral process.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Fame at 20th century levels is mostly an aberration. People used to entertain themselves by playing the family piano or making music together as a tribe. Probably far better, ok also better than facebook posting, although sometimes all people can make time for these days in facebook posting. Listen to Elvis and the Beatles, but you must go to see the unknown act playing locally next Saturday.

[KayLR]

I'm sitting here thinking about how I knew about my parents' references. I am thinking a lot of it comes down to just plain and simple conversations and listening to each other. We actually sat at a table and talked with each other. We saw our parents' record albums. We saw the books they read. My kids know who my idols were because I talked about them and they saw my tapes and records and CDs. Heck, my youngest daughter gave me a beautiful collector album of Leon Russell's she found last year for my birthday.

I watched baseball with my dad and know many names of players from the 60s and forward because of our shared interest.

Now, we're more isolated within ourselves, staring at our individual screens, eating on the run and listening to downloaded music with earbuds.