what makes a good hero essay

Essays About Heroes: 5 Examples And Topic Ideas

Here, we’ll look at examples of essays about heroes and questions that can be used as topics for essays about an imagined or real hero.

A few different images likely come to mind when you hear the word hero. You may imagine Superman flying above the world with his superpower of flight. You may imagine a personal hero, a real person who has made a significant impact on your life for the better. You might think of a true hero as someone who has shown heroic qualities in the public eye, working to help ordinary people through difficult situations.

When writing an essay about your life hero, it’s important to consider the qualities of that person that make them stand out to you. Whether you choose to write an essay about how your mom got you through tough times and became your role model or about a political figure who made a difference in the lives of people in history, it’s key to not just focus on the person’s actions—you’ll also want to focus on the qualities that allowed them to act heroically.

Here, we’ll explore examples of hero essays and potential topics to consider when writing about a hero.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

Examples Of Essays About Heroes

• 1. These Are The Heroes Of The Coronavirus Pandemic By Ruth Marcus
• 2. Why Teachers Are My Heroes By Joshua Muskin
• 3. Martin Luther King Jr.—Civil Rights Activist & Hero By Kathy Weiser-Alexander

4. Steve Prefontaine: The Track Of A Hero By Bill O’Brian

5. forget hamilton, burr is the real hero by carey wallace, topic ideas for essays about heroes, 1. what makes a hero, 2. what are the most important characteristics of heroes in literature, 3. what constitutes a heroic act, 4. is selflessness required for heroism, 1.  these are the heroes of the coronavirus pandemic  by ruth marcus.

“Is this what they signed up for? There is some danger inherent in the ordinary practice of medicine, but not this much. I confess: I do not know that I would do the same in their circumstances; I am not sure I am so generous or so brave. If my child were graduating from medical school, how would I deal with her being sent, inadequately protected, into an emergency room? If my husband were a physician, would I send him off to the hospital — or let him back into the house in the interim?” Ruth Marcus

Healthcare workers have had no choice but to go above and beyond in recent years. In this essay, Marcus discusses the heroism of those in the healthcare field. He delves into the traits (including selflessness and courage) that make doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers heroes.

2.  Why Teachers Are My Heroes   By Joshua Muskin

“Teachers are my heroes because they accept this responsibility and try extremely hard to do this well even when the conditions in which they work are far from ideal; at least most do. Our jobs as society, education systems, and parents is to do our best to be strong allies to teachers, since their success is essential to ours.” Joshua Muskin

In this essay, Dr. Muskin discusses the many challenges teachers face and what parents, administrators, and education researchers can do to help teachers support students. Muskin explains that most teachers go above and beyond the call of duty to serve their classrooms.

3.  Martin Luther King Jr.—Civil Rights Activist & Hero   By Kathy Weiser-Alexander

“During this nonviolent protest, activists used boycotts, sit-ins, and marches to protest segregation and unfair hiring practices that caught the attention of the entire world. However, his tactics were put to the test when police brutality was used against the marchers, and King was arrested. But, his voice was not silenced, as he wrote his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to refute his critics.” Kathy Weiser-Alexander

In this essay, Weiser-Alexander details both the traits and the actions of Dr. King before and during the civil rights movement. The author touches on King’s commitment to justice, persistence, and willingness to stand for his beliefs despite difficult circumstances.

“I remember this so vividly because Prefontaine was a hero to me, a hero in a way that no one was before, or really has been since. A British commentator once called him “an athletic Beatle.” If so, his persona was much more Lennon than McCartney. Actually, I thought of him more as Mick Jagger — or ultimately James Dean.” Bill O’Brian

A hero to many in the running world, Prefontaine’s confidence, unique style, and unmatched athletic ability have been heralded for decades. In this essay, O’Brian shares how he, as a distance runner during the era of Pre, related to his struggles and ambition.

“Burr fought against an ugly tide of anti-immigrant sentiment in the young republic, led by Hamilton’s Federalist party, which suggested that anyone without English heritage was a second-class citizen, and even challenged the rights of non-Anglos to hold office. In response, Burr insisted that anyone who contributed to society deserved all the rights of any other citizen, no matter their background.” Carey Wallace

In this essay, Wallace explains why Aaron Burr, the lifelong nemesis of founding father Alexander Hamilton, should be considered a historical hero. This essay exposes someone seen as a villain but much of society with a different take on their history. 

It can be interesting to think about your definition of a hero. When describing what the term hero means to you, you may want to choose a person (or a few people) you look up to as a hero to solidify your point. You might want to include fictional characters (such as those in the Marvel universe) and real-life brave souls, such as police officers and firefighters.

A word of caution: stay away from the cliche opening of describing how the dictionary defines a hero. Instead, lead-in with a personal story about a hero who has affected your life. While talking about a public figure as a hero is acceptable, you may find it easier to write about someone close to you who you feel has displayed heroic qualities. Writing about a family member or friend who has shown up as a heroic main character in your life can be just as exciting as writing about a real or imagined superhero.

From Beowulf to Marvel comics, heroes in literature take on many different traits. When writing an essay on what trait makes a hero come alive in a short story, novel, or comic, choose a few of your favorite heroes and find common themes that they share.

Perhaps your favorite heroes are selfless and are willing to put themselves last in the name of sacrifice for others. Perhaps they’re able to dig deep into the truth, being honest even when it’s hard, for the greater good. There’s no need to list endless heroes to make your point—choosing three or four heroes from literature can be a great way to support your argument about what characteristics define heroism in literature.

When someone is named a hero in real life, we often picture them saving people from a burning building or performing a difficult surgical operation. It can be difficult to pin down exactly what constitutes a heroic act. When writing about what constitutes a heroic act, think about people who go above and beyond, performing feats of courage, honesty, and bravery to support themselves or others. When writing about what constitutes a heroic act, discuss real-life or literary examples of heroes at work.

To many people, being a hero means giving back to others. While giving something away or trading in one’s well-being for others can certainly be seen as a heroic act, many people wonder if selflessness is required for heroism or if a hero can serve the greater good in a way that also supports their happiness. When writing about whether selflessness is required for heroism, choose examples from literature and real-life to support your point.

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead.

If you’re still stuck, check out our available resource of essay writing topics .

Amanda has an M.S.Ed degree from the University of Pennsylvania in School and Mental Health Counseling and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. She has experience writing magazine articles, newspaper articles, SEO-friendly web copy, and blog posts.

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What Makes a Person Heroic?

Characteristics of a hero.

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. She has co-authored two books for the popular Dummies Series (as Shereen Jegtvig).

• Definitions
• Characteristics

What makes a person heroic? Is there a hero gene, naturally giving someone the characteristics of a hero? According to one study, the answer might rest in the type of heroism we are addressing.

In a paper published in 2010, researchers reported that people who engaged in one-time acts of bravery (like rushing into a burning building or rescuing someone from the path of an oncoming train) are not necessarily that much different from control groups of non-heroes.

By contrast, people who engage in lifelong heroism (such as professional nurses who regularly comfort the sick and dying) do share a number of important personality traits such as empathy , nurturance, and a need to live by a moral code.

Definitions of Heroism

The scientific study of heroism is a relatively recent topic of interest within the field of psychology.

Researchers have offered different definitions of exactly what makes a hero, but most suggest that heroism involves prosocial, altruistic actions that involve an element of personal risk or sacrifice. 

Researchers Franco, Blau, and Zimbardo define heroism as someone who:

• Acts voluntarily for the service of others who are in need, whether it is for an individual, a group, or a community
• Performs actions without any expectation of reward or external gain
• Recognizes and accepts the potential risk or sacrifice made by taking heroic actions

Researchers do not necessarily agree about the central characteristics that make up heroism. One study published in 2015 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggested that heroes have 12 central traits, which are:

• Determination
• Inspirational
• Moral integrity
• Self-sacrifice
• Selflessness

The psychology of heroism might not be well understood, but many experts do believe that it is possible for people to learn to be heroes . The following are just a few of the major characteristics that researchers have ascribed to heroes.

Concern for the Well-Being of Others

According to researchers, empathy, and compassion for others are key variables that contribute to heroic behavior. People who rush in to help others in the face of danger and adversity do so because they genuinely care about the safety and well-being of other people. They cannot bear to see someone suffering and are compelled to take action.

One study published in 2009 found that people who have heroic tendencies also have a much higher degree of empathy.  

People who engage in acts of heroism have concern and care for the people around them and they are able to feel what those in need of help are feeling.

Understanding Other Perspectives

Researchers suggest that heroes aren't just compassionate and caring; they have a knack for being able to see things from the perspective of others. They can "walk a mile in another man's shoes," so to speak.

When they encounter a situation where an individual is in need, they are immediately able to see themselves in that same situation and see what needs to be done to help.

Heroes Have Useful Skills and Strengths

Clearly, having the training or physical ability to deal with a crisis can also play a major role in whether or not people become heroes.

In situations where would-be rescuers lack the know-how or sheer physical strength to make a difference, people are less likely to help or are more likely to find less direct ways to take action. And in many cases, this approach is probably best; after all, people senselessly rushing into a dangerous situation can pose even more difficulties for rescue workers.

People who are trained and capable, such as those with first aid training and experience, are more ready and able to step up when their skills are needed.

Heroes Have a Strong Moral Compass

According to heroism researchers Philip Zimbardo and Zeno Franco, heroes have two essential qualities that set them apart from non-heroes: they live by their values and they are willing to endure personal risk to protect those values.

Moral reasoning at the highest levels incorporates principles of justice, equality, and honor. The heroic mindset upholds the sanctity of human life above material desires and personal needs. All heroic decisions must consider the potential outcomes and choose the pathway that will serve the greater good of humanity.

Their values and personal beliefs give them the courage and resolve to endure risk and even danger in order to adhere to those principles.

Heroes Are Competent and Confident

It takes both skill and self-confidence to rush into places others fear to tread. Researchers suggest that people who perform heroic acts tend to feel confident in themselves and their abilities.

When faced with a crisis , they have an intrinsic belief that they are capable of handling the challenge and achieving success no matter what the odds are. Part of this confidence might stem from above-average coping skills and abilities to manage stress.

Heroes Are More Optimistic

A person who rushes into a burning building to save another person is not just extraordinarily brave; he or she also possesses an ability to overcome fear. Researchers suggest that heroic individuals are positive thinkers by nature, which contributes to their ability to look past the immediate danger of a situation and see a more optimistic outcome.

In one 2010 study, researchers found that people identified as heroes were more likely to put a positive spin on negative events.  

When faced with a potentially life-threatening illness, people with heroic tendencies might focus on the good that might come from the situation such as a renewed appreciation for life or an increased closeness with loved ones.

Heroes Have a Higher Tolerance for Risk

In many cases, these individuals may also have a lower experience of fear and a higher tolerance for risk. Plenty of caring and kind people might shrink back in the face of danger. Those who do leap into action are typically more likely to take greater risks in multiple aspects of their lives.

Persistence is another quality commonly shared by heroes. They are often more patient and will keep working on their goals, even after multiple setbacks.

The decision to act heroically is a choice that many of us will be called upon to make at some point in time. By conceiving of heroism as a universal attribute of human nature, not as a rare feature of the few 'heroic elect,' heroism becomes something that seems in the range of possibilities for every person, perhaps inspiring more of us to answer that call.

A Word From Verywell

Researchers have found that in a lot of ways, heroes are not all that different from most people. However, there are a number of skills you can build that can boost your hero characteristics.

Building empathy, becoming competent and skilled, and being persistent in the face of obstacles are all abilities you can work on over time. By doing so, you can improve your ability to help others and come through in times of need.

Walker LJ, Frimer JA, Dunlop WL. Varieties of moral personality: Beyond the banality of heroism .  J Pers . 2010;78(3):907‐942. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00637.x

Franco ZE, Blau K, Zimbardo PG. Heroism: A conceptual analysis and differentiation between heroic action and altruism .  Review of General Psychology . 2011;15(2):99-113. doi:10.1037/a0022672.

Kinsella EL, Ritchie TD, Igou ER. Zeroing in on heroes: A prototype analysis of hero features . J Pers Soc Psychol. 2015;108(1):114-127. doi:10.1037/a0038463

Staats S, Wallace H, Anderson T, Gresley J, Hupp JM, Weiss E. The hero concept: Self, family, and friends who are brave, honest, and hopeful . Psychol Rep. 2009;104(3):820-832. doi:10.2466/PR0.104.3.820-832

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

• Heroism: Why Heroes are Important
• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
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Why Heroes are Important

The impact of role models on the ideals to which we aspire.

When I was 16 years old, I read Henry David Thoreau's book Walden for the first time, and it changed my life. I read about living deliberately, about sucking the marrow out of life, about not, when I had come to die, discovering that I had not lived, and I was electrified. Somehow he convinced me that living deliberately meant becoming a philosopher, and I have not looked back since. And I try as often as I can to remind myself of Thoreau's warning to all philosophy professors: "There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers. Yet it is admirable to profess because it was once admirable to live. To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically." If - horrible thought - I should fail to earn tenure here, I would largely blame that damned quotation. But even if that disaster should strike, I know I would find solace by asking how Henry would respond to such a setback, and I know I would be a better man by following his example. Thoreau is one of my dearest heroes, and I do not know who I would be without him.

The term "hero" comes from the ancient Greeks. For them, a hero was a mortal who had done something so far beyond the normal scope of human experience that he left an immortal memory behind him when he died, and thus received worship like that due the gods. Many of these first heroes were great benefactors of humankind: Hercules, the monster killer; Asclepius, the first doctor; Dionysus, the creator of Greek fraternities. But people who had committed unthinkable crimes were also called heroes; Oedipus and Medea, for example, received divine worship after their deaths as well. Originally, heroes were not necessarily good, but they were always extraordinary; to be a hero was to expand people's sense of what was possible for a human being.

Today, it is much harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality; we only call heroes those whom we admire and wish to emulate. But still the concept retains that original link to possibility. We need heroes first and foremost because our heroes help define the limits of our aspirations. We largely define our ideals by the heroes we choose, and our ideals -- things like courage, honor, and justice -- largely define us. Our heroes are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like to possess and all the ambitions we would like to satisfy. A person who chooses Martin Luther King or Susan B. Anthony as a hero is going to have a very different sense of what human excellence involves than someone who chooses, say, Paris Hilton, or the rapper 50 Cent. And because the ideals to which we aspire do so much to determine the ways in which we behave, we all have a vested interest in each person having heroes, and in the choice of heroes each of us makes.

That is why it is so important for us as a society, globally and locally, to try to shape these choices. Of course, this is a perennial moral issue, but there are warning signs that we need to refocus our attention on the issue now. Consider just a few of these signs:

o A couple years ago the administrators of the Barron Prize for Young Heroes polled American teenagers and found only half could name a personal hero. Superman and Spiderman were named twice as often as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Lincoln. It is clear that our media make it all too easy for us to confuse celebrity with excellence; of the students who gave an answer, more than half named an athlete, a movie star, or a musician. One in ten named winners on American Idol as heroes.

o Gangsta rap is a disaster for heroism. Just this week, director Spike Lee lamented the fact that, while his generation grew up idolizing great civil rights leaders, today young people in his community aspire to become pimps and strippers. Surely no one wants their children to get their role models from Gangsta rap and a hyper materialistic, misogynistic hiphop culture, but our communities are finding it difficult to make alternative role models take hold.

o And sometimes, the problem we face is that devotion to heroes is very strong, but directed toward the wrong heroes. In the Muslim world, Osama bin Laden and his like still have a widespread heroic appeal. We can tell how we are doing in the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds by the degree to which this continues to be true.

So what must we do? How should we address the problem? Part of the answer is personal. It never hurts us to remind ourselves who our own heroes are and what they represent for us, and to ask ourselves whether we are doing all we can to live up to these ideals. Not long ago there was a movement afoot to ask always, "What would Jesus do?" I'd like to see people asking questions like that, about Jesus or others, all the time. I confess I get a little thrill every time I see a protest poster asking, "Who would Jesus bomb?" That's heroism doing its work, right there. Moreover, those of us who are teachers - and all of us are teachers of our own children at least - have a special opportunity to introduce heroes to those we teach. And teaching about heroes really isn't hard; heroic lives have their appeal built in, all we need to do is make an effort to tell the stories. I assure you, the reason those students didn't choose Lincoln and King and Gandhi as heroes was not that they had heard their stories and dismissed them. It is our job to tell the stories. Tell your students what a difference people of courage and nobility and genius have made to the world. Just tell the stories! We should recommit to that purpose. Start by going home tonight and listing your five most important heroes.

But part of the answer to our problem is broader. It is clear that the greatest obstacle to the appreciation and adoption of heroes in our society is pervasive and corrosive cynicism and skepticism. It was widely claimed not long ago that 9/11 signalled the end of irony, but it is clear now that the reports of irony's death were greatly exaggerated. This obstacle of cynicism has been seriously increased by scandals like the steroids mess in Major League Baseball, by our leaders' opportunistic use of heroic imagery for short term political gain, and by the Pentagon's stories of glorious soldiers like Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman that - by no fault of the soldiers involved - turned out to be convenient fabrications.

The best antidote to this cynicism is realism about the limits of human nature. We are cynical because so often our ideals have been betrayed. Washington and Jefferson held slaves, Martin Luther King is accused of philandering and plagiarizing, just about everybody had sex with someone they shouldn't, and so on. We need to separate out the things that make our heroes noteworthy, and forgive the shortcomings that blemish their heroic perfection. My own hero Thoreau had his share of blemishes. For instance, although he was supposed to be living totally independently out by Walden Pond, he went home to Mother on the weekends. But such carping and debunking misses the point. True, the false steps and frailties of heroic people make them more like us, and since most of us are not particularly heroic, that may seem to reduce the heroes' stature. But this dynamic pulls in the other direction as well: these magnificent spirits, these noble souls, amazingly, they are like us, they are human too. And perhaps, then, what was possible for them is possible for us. They stumbled, they wavered, they made fools of themselves - but nonetheless they rose and accomplished deeds of triumphant beauty. Perhaps we might do so too. Cynicism is too often merely an excuse for sparing ourselves the effort.

Again, the critical moral contribution of heroes is the expansion of our sense of possibility. If we most of us, as Thoreau said, live lives of quiet desperation, it is because our horizons of possibility are too cramped. Heroes can help us lift our eyes a little higher. Immanuel Kant said that "from the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." That may well be true. But some have used that warped, knotted timber to build more boldly and beautifully than others, and we may all benefit by their examples. Heaven knows we need those examples now.

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Definition: what Makes a Hero?

This essay about what makes someone a hero explores the essential qualities that define heroism beyond the stereotypical depictions of physical prowess or superhuman feats. It emphasizes empathy, courage, integrity, and action as the core characteristics that any individual can embody to be considered a hero. The narrative asserts that true heroes are empathetic individuals who feel deeply for others, courageous enough to act despite fear, maintain integrity by adhering to moral principles, and are distinguished by their readiness to take decisive action. By focusing on these traits, the essay illustrates that heroism is accessible to everyone and manifests through acts of kindness, bravery, and ethical conduct in everyday life.

How it works

What distinguishes a hero from the rest of us? Is it the ability to perform extraordinary feats, or is it something less tangible, more embedded in the essence of who they are? In exploring what makes someone a hero, it’s essential to look beyond the common portrayal of heroes in media and literature as individuals with superhuman abilities or immense physical prowess. Instead, we should focus on the fundamental qualities that foster heroism in everyday life.

The first and perhaps most critical characteristic of a hero is the capacity for empathy.

Empathy drives a person to understand and share the feelings of others, to step into someone else’s shoes, and to act with compassion and kindness. This emotional connection is what often propels individuals to perform acts of bravery and altruism, even when such actions involve personal risk or sacrifice. For instance, a passerby running into a burning building to rescue a trapped family doesn’t do so because they believe they are invincible, but because they can’t stand the thought of people suffering—a heroic act driven purely by empathy.

Courage is another indispensable trait of a hero. However, this courage is not merely the absence of fear but rather the decision to act despite fear. True heroism involves facing daunting situations with resolve and determination. Consider the activists who risk their safety and well-being to fight for justice and equality. These individuals display a form of bravery that is not about conquering fear but rather managing it, channeling it into a force for good.

Integrity also plays a pivotal role in heroism. A hero acts with honesty and adheres to strong moral principles, not for the sake of recognition but because it’s the right thing to do. Heroes are consistent in their values, and they stand firm in their convictions under all circumstances. This unwavering adherence to truth and justice, even when it’s inconvenient or dangerous, sets heroes apart from the crowd.

Moreover, the impulse to act is what ultimately defines a hero. Many might feel empathy, exhibit courage, and uphold integrity, but heroes are those who translate these feelings and values into action. It’s not just about feeling for the victim of an accident; it’s about rushing forward to help. It’s not only about believing in charity and community service; it’s about organizing and mobilizing resources to make a difference. Action is what bridges the gap between having qualities and being a hero.

In conclusion, being a hero doesn’t require one to perform grandiose feats that defy the laws of nature. Instead, heroism is about the profound impact one can have through empathy, courage, integrity, and decisive action. These heroes walk among us as teachers, doctors, activists, and ordinary citizens. By embodying these qualities, they inspire us all to strive towards a better version of ourselves, encouraging us to act when faced with challenges, to stand firm in our values, and to empathize deeply with those in need. Thus, a hero is someone who makes the world a better place, not through supernatural powers but through human acts of kindness, bravery, and morality.

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If you are writing a hero essay, you have to describe a particular person who did something great. This can be a story about brave heroes of the World War II that were fighting with an enemy to save other people. You may write about a smart scientist who invented something significant to simplify our life. Maybe you even have your own hero? Your main task here is to write about personal qualities to explain to your readers why this certain person is a great hero. It's important to find strong words to describe this particular man or woman, there are a lot of things to write about. This type of paper requires good skills in writing and a lot of time. We have created this detailed instruction to help people in writing a strong hero essay. Read all pages of our article, it will help to figure out how to make a successful story that will attract many readers. Follow our simple hints, don't forget to plan your time beforehand! In case you lack time or ideas, remember that StudyCrumb can help you with any academic essay. Just say " Write my essay cheap " and our professionals will create a wonderful paper on any topic. 

4 Steps of Creating a Brilliant Story About Your Hero

These are the main steps that will help people to make a good essay.

• Brainstorm your ideas to choose your hero. You are free to write about anyone: from a heroic person that saves people and their lives to a fictional character from a cartoon for children. The most important thing is to mention the qualities of the chosen person to show your readers their power and strength. Find a character analysis example to base on.
• Make a clear outline for your future work. You may think it's not necessary to do it at all, but creating an outline is an important step in writing; if you are traveling in the unknown place, you definitely have a map, don't you? The same is with creating your paper. An outline is your map to guide you through the process of writing, that's why you shouldn't neglect this step.
• Write a draft of your essay. Here everything is simple: just follow your outline, don't try to pay attention to grammar and punctuation. You will have a chance to fix all errors later. Try to be concentrated on your writing.
• Revise your hero essay to correct all mistakes and misprints. We suggest taking some time for rest after you have finished your paper and then start editing your work. It's more effective to check the paper with refreshed eyes. We suggest using various online programs to run online spell check and correct grammar mistakes.

How to Make a Good Outline for My Hero Essay?

As we already mentioned, an essay outline is an important part of writing your story about heroes; here is how you should build it:

• Introduction Here it's important to introduce your hero to readers: explain why this person is very important to you. Don't forget to provide your audience with a short background.
• The main part Here you should describe all qualities and characteristics of your hero to people. Provide heroic acts in details, don't forget about examples to support your argument. For instance, don't just write that a person was very brave. Provide a story that will prove it: tell your readers how your courage and character saved someone's life or did something significant for others.
• Conclusion This is a part of your paper where you have to rephrase the main idea of your writing to finish your essay logically. Don't make it too big, never try to put anything new here. A good ending should be a short accord in your work.

Ideas for Writing an Interesting Paper About a Hero

If you feel stuck with your writing, we have a bunch of interesting ideas you can choose from:

• Make a story about a real hero from books or newspapers. This can be an essay about a brave soldier who fought in the war, this may be a work about a fireman with courage who saved a lot of people and children from fire.
• Write about a fictional hero. Many people read a lot of stories about Superman or Batman - they are big heroes. It's possible to create a bright and interesting paper about such characters. Keep in mind you should describe their feats and achievement and explain to your readers why they have to admire them.
• Famous people : actors, politicians, scientists, etc. can be your heroes easily. You can make an exciting story about a movie star; it's possible to write about a great scientist you admire a lot. Maybe you even have figured out your future profession thanks to these people? This is a great idea to create your hero story about!
• Sometimes even ordinary people can become heroes. Maybe your best friend saved a little puppy fighting with a couple of angry dogs? Your uncle seems to be a brave hero because he is a zoologist who fights with poachers to make this world better? Feel free to write about such heroes too. They are very important for all us.

5 Tips to Create a Perfect and Bright Work About a Hero

Follow these effective hints to write an exciting hero paper and get a high grade:

• Write about someone your audience doesn't expect to hear. When people hear a word "hero", they have brave knights with courage in their mind. Try to catch people attention with a story about a homeless man who saved a kitten from cars or about a neighbor's son who helps the old people of your district (buys food for them every day).
• Usually, people expect reading from hero essays about such qualities as bravery, fame, and courage. It's possible to make an exciting story about a character who is very kind or extremely optimistic even in a bad situation. Surprise your readers with something they don't expect! This is a very effective thing when you're making a hero essay.
• Think out of the box - feel free to write about anything that comes to your mind. Keep in mind that you should support your argument with examples. Describe actions, not just how the chosen person looks! A huge smile plus nice face cannot convince readers you are writing about a kind character. If you will mention that a young man helped old woman to cross the street, then it proves this is an act of kindness.
• Whether you're making a story about a real person or write about a hero from cartoons, movies, or comics, write about the facts you are familiar with. There is no reason to use your fantasy, trying to provide readers with a fairy tale.
• Make a bright introduction to grab the attention of your readers. People won't read a boring story, your main task here is to motivate them to read the entire work. There are several ways of creating an interesting beginning. Try to start your essay with a quote, put a question, or provide the audience with an anecdote. Just try to be non-ordinary to write a creative essay !

Why Is It Important to Read Hero Essay Examples?

Needless to say, it's quite useful to read hero essay examples to create your own interesting story. Reading helps to refine writing skills, we suggest searching for essay samples, no matter what kind of paper you're working on. Here we want to share our successful sample of an interesting hero essay that may be helpful to read:  

My dad is a great hero to me. Even if he doesn't do anything special in his everyday job, I admire him a lot. He is a lawyer who helps to make equitable justice. My dad taught me that it's quite important to be an honest person. My dad is a great hero to me. Even if he doesn't do anything special in his everyday job, I admire him a lot. He is a lawyer who helps to make equitable justice. My dad taught me that it's quite important to be an honest person. At the start, that cruel man tried to defame my father's client - he wanted to make him guilty in everything; my dad already had evidence against the man so he suggested him staying quiet. It didn't work, the next day someone offered my father a bribe. I can't write the sum here - this money would be enough for all us to live without working anymore. In addition, my mother was fighting cancer, we needed a lot of money. My father didn't accept that: he rejected the deal and he found a man who offered a bribe. Nowadays, that man with his sly partner are in jail. The father's client was acquitted in the court from a criminal charge. I already have chosen my future profession - I want to be a lawyer like my dad. I admire this person because he is a strong hero for me because he is the most honest man I know.

Daniel Howard is an Essay Writing guru. He helps students create essays that will strike a chord with the readers.

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Essay on What Makes Someone A Hero

Students are often asked to write an essay on What Makes Someone A Hero in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on What Makes Someone A Hero

Who is a hero.

A hero is someone who does something brave or kind to help others, even when it is dangerous or difficult for them. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be found in all walks of life.

Qualities of a Hero

Some common qualities of heroes include courage, kindness, selflessness, and determination. Heroes are often willing to put themselves in danger to help others, and they never give up on those they are trying to help.

Everyday Heroes

Heroes are not just people who save the day in big, dramatic ways. Everyday heroes are people who make a difference in the lives of others through their kindness, compassion, and willingness to help. They are the people who make our communities better places to live.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be found in all walks of life. They are the people who make our world a better place, and they deserve our respect and admiration.

250 Words Essay on What Makes Someone A Hero

What makes someone a hero.

A hero is someone who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. They are people who make a positive impact on the world and inspire others to do the same.

Courage and Selflessness

One of the most important qualities of a hero is courage. Heroes are willing to face danger and adversity in order to help others or to defend what they believe in. They are not afraid to stand up for what they believe is right, even when it is unpopular or difficult. Heroes are also selfless. They put the needs of others before their own and are always willing to help those in need.

Perseverance and Determination

Heroes are also persevering and determined. They do not give up easily, even when faced with setbacks and obstacles. They are always willing to try again and never give up on their goals. Heroes are also determined to make a difference in the world. They are passionate about their beliefs and are willing to work hard to make them a reality.

Kindness and Compassion

Heroes are also kind and compassionate. They care about others and are always willing to help those in need. They are always willing to lend a helping hand and are always there for their friends and family. Heroes are also tolerant and understanding. They are able to see the good in people, even when they are different from themselves.

In conclusion, many different qualities make someone a hero. Some of the most important qualities include courage, selflessness, perseverance, determination, kindness, and compassion. Heroes are people who make a positive impact on the world and inspire others to do the same. They are people who are admired and respected for their bravery, their accomplishments, and their noble qualities.

500 Words Essay on What Makes Someone A Hero

A hero is someone who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. They are often seen as role models and possess characteristics that inspire others. Heroes can be found in all walks of life, from firefighters and police officers to teachers and doctors.

Characteristics of a Hero

There are many qualities that can make someone a hero. Some of the most common include:

• Courage: Heroes are often willing to put their own lives at risk to help others.
• Selflessness: Heroes are not motivated by personal gain. They act out of a desire to help others and make a difference in the world.
• Compassion: Heroes are empathetic and care about the well-being of others. They are willing to go out of their way to help those in need.
• Determination: Heroes are persistent and do not give up. They are willing to face challenges and overcome obstacles in order to achieve their goals.
• Integrity: Heroes are honest and trustworthy. They always do the right thing, even when it is difficult.

Types of Heroes

There are many different types of heroes. Some heroes are famous, while others are known only to their local community. Some heroes are everyday people who perform acts of kindness and bravery. Others are celebrities or public figures who use their platform to make a difference in the world. No matter how big or small, all heroes have one thing in common: they make the world a better place.

The Importance of Heroes

Heroes are important because they inspire us to be better people. They show us what is possible when we put our minds to it and work hard to achieve our goals. Heroes also remind us that there is good in the world and that we can make a difference.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. They are the people who make the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time. We should all strive to be heroes in our own way, and we should never forget the importance of the heroes who came before us.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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• Scriptwriting

What is a Hero — Definition, Examples & Types Explained

• Types of Characters in a Story
• Protagonist
• Deuteragonist
• Tragic Hero
• Tritagonist
• Anti-Villain
• Foil Character
• Common Character Types
• Character Archetypes
• Types of Villains
• Femme Fatale
• Mad Scientist
• Damsel in Distress
• What is Characterization
• Characterization Examples in Movies
• Characterization of Anton Chigurh Explained
• Direct Characterization
• Indirect Characterization
• Round vs. Flat Character
• Round Character
• Flat Character
• Static vs Dynamic Characters
• What is a Static Character
• Dynamic Character

W hat is a hero? Heroism is a concept we’re taught at a very young age. But is the definition we’re taught really accurate? Today, we’re going to explore the hero definition in a new light by looking at examples in psychology, film, and literature. By the end, you’ll know what makes a hero, and how to make your own characters heroic. 

Watch: What is a Protagonist

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Hero Meaning Explained

Let's define hero.

When I say “hero,” who do you think of? Hercules? Superman? A role model? Heroes play an important role in our everyday lives because they serve as a beacon of excellence that we strive towards.

HERO DEFINITION

What is a hero.

A  hero  is a person who demonstrates an utmost commitment to their morals, no matter the obstacle or consequence. Heroes are venerated in stories for possessing extraordinary abilities, such as exceptional strength, intelligence, or fortitude. This character is not to be confused with a superhero. A superhero often shares the same moral and charitable qualities but they also have special powers or abilities.

Classic Hero Traits:

• An unwavering dedication to their morals
• A priority to uphold the greater good
• Courage in the face of adversity

The hero is almost always the protagonist of a story. But a protagonist is not always a hero. Those two terms get confused a lot and while there is overlap, they are distinct categories.

But in many ways, we believe that heroes are beyond reach; idealized to an unattainable degree – but that doesn’t have to be the case. This next video from Academy of Ideas examines the psychology of heroism, and explains how you can be your own heroic character.

The Psychology of Heroism by Academy of Ideas

This is not a messianic figure – it’s simply a person who defends their moralistic beliefs vigorously. Of course, those moralistic beliefs have to be rooted in charity; the utilitarian notion of the greater good outweighing the greater evil need not apply.

QUALITIES OF A HERO IN LIT.

Hero examples in literature.

Literature is defined simply as a written work; so as you can guess, there have been a lot of heroes throughout the history of literature.

Let’s take a look at a few:

Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh  

By contemporary standards, Gilgamesh is more of a superhero, but considering that he’s regarded as the first hero in literature, we had to include him here. Gilgamesh demonstrates exceptional persistence against overwhelming odds to become a hero of feat.

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird  

Atticus demonstrates extraordinary resolve by defending Tom Robinson against bigotry.

Nancy Drew from the Nancy Drew series 

Nancy represents an outlet for women seeking heroes in a market saturated with male heroes. Nancy displays great intelligence in her quest to unmask various villains .

This next video from Ted-Ed breaks down  Joseph Campbell’s  The Hero’s Journey by looking at famous literature examples of heroes.

What Makes a Hero? by Ted-Ed

The Hero’s Journey may serve as a blueprint for effective storytelling, but it’s not the only way writers characterize heroes. Remember, heroes are simply individuals who defend their morals in spite of potential consequences. 

Now, let’s look at some hero examples in film and television.

Heroic Characters Explained

Heroes in movies & television.

Big-budget cinema – at least nowadays – is a medium for the sensational, which means that its heroes are often “super” in nature. It’s worth noting that superheroes are different from heroes. 

Heroes demonstrate extraordinary ability within the realm of reality, superheroes demonstrate extraordinary ability outside that realm.

So, we’re going to stick to regular heroes in this section. Here are a few hero examples in film/television (some of who are rooted in plays/literature):

Juror #8 in 12 Angry Men : Juror #8 is a classic example because he defends his morals with absolute conviction, despite limited support from his peers. For more, check out our 12 Angry Men script teardown .

Rick Blaine in Casablanca : Rick represents a sub-type that we regard as the dormant hero. This character rejects heroism due to a traumatic defeat. However, they are later called back into action, and overcomes their greatest foe to emerge victorious. For more, check out our Casablanca script teardown .

Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones movies: Indiana Jones is the perfect example of a classic Hollywood hero. Indy doesn’t possess superheroic abilities, but he does possess extraordinary intelligence and courage.

Now here’s a thought exercise for you: is Thanos the hero – or more appropriately the superhero – 0f Avengers: Infinity War ? Let’s examine that question with a video essay! Check it out below.

Avengers: Infinity War Script Breakdown  •   Subscribe on YouTube

I’d argue that Thanos displays a sense of heroism by defending his moral beliefs. However, his call is a perverse one: rooted in utilitarian justice rather than charity. 

Related Posts

• What is an Archetype →
• What is an Antagonist →
• What is a Character Arc →

What is an anti-hero?

Now that we know what we call an individual who defends their moralistic beliefs no matter the consequence, let’s explore the question: what is an anti-hero? Anti-heroes are incredibly popular in today’s media scene. In our next article, we break down how characters like Walter White and the Underground Man rejected the hero’s call and became anti-heroes instead.

Up Next: Anti-Hero Explained →

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What Makes A Hero?

Philip zimbardo explores what research knows about who becomes a hero--and why they act heroically..

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Heroism — Examples Of Heroism

Examples of Heroism

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Emmanuel Petit names the ‘quality’ player Chelsea should sign to replace Conor Gallagher

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Emmanuel Petit has identified the perfect replacement for Conor Gallagher , should Chelsea decide to sell the popular midfielder this summer .

The England international’s future has been a subject of intense speculation for well over a year and has come close to leaving his boyhood club on several occasions .

Tottenham have regularly been linked with a move for the 24-year-old who will have no shortage of suitors having enjoyed his best season in a Chelsea shirt, despite another chaotic campaign at Stamford Bridge.

Given his homegrown status, Gallagher’s potential sale would represent pure profit for the Blues who are battling to comply with the Premier League’s spending rules.

Mauricio Pochettino, who parted company with the Blues last week , wanted to keep Gallagher, with his stance on the combative midfielder understood to have played a role in his eventual downfall.

Former Chelsea star Petit admits he cannot comprehend any decision that would see Gallagher depart in the transfer window, but believes PSG’s tough tackling Manuel Ugarte should be on the radar of whoever replaces Pochettino.

‘Why are Chelsea selling Gallagher, because of the money?’ Petit told BoyleSports, who offer the latest Champions League betting . ‘I know they get pure profit on Gallagher but that should not mean you sell one of the most influential members of the team and one of the only English players.

‘It’s so important for the fans, identity and DNA of the club to have these players in the team, I don’t get it. Chelsea have spent a lot of money and they now have to sell their own players, they need to think about this before.

‘Ugarte could be a good replacement for Chelsea, though, as he’s a quality player. He was one of the first names on the team sheet for Enrique at PSG, but then he fell out of favour after they were thrashed by Newcastle.

‘He was on the bench after that and the mentality is to build from behind, but he doesn’t suit that well. Ugarte is very good, fighting for the second balls, providing balance for the team, but with the ball, he’s not the best in the team.

‘But if he joins Chelsea I think he could be a good fit in their team.’

Chelsea will doubtless look to strengthen their forward line as well once the window reopens, despite the progress made by Nicolas Jackson during the closing months of the season.

‘I think Chelsea should sign Rodrygo from Real Madrid to help Nicolas Jackson next season,’ added Petit.

‘With Mbappe arriving next season, one of Real’s big stars are going to be out of the XI, so I think this one makes sense for both parties.

‘Real Madrid could get a big fee and he will also be great for Jackson, although he is still young.’ 

MORE : Kieran McKenna speaks out after snubbing Manchester United and Chelsea

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The Big AI Risk Not Enough People Are Seeing

Beware technology that makes us less human.

“Our focus with AI is to help create more healthy and equitable relationships.” Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and executive chair of the dating app Bumble, leans in toward her Bloomberg Live interviewer. “How can we actually teach you how to date?”

When her interviewer, apparently bemused, asks for an example of what this means, Herd launches into a mind-bending disquisition on the future of AI-abetted dating: “Okay, so for example, you could in the near future be talking to your AI dating concierge, and you could share your insecurities. ‘I just came out of a breakup. I have commitment issues.’ And it could help you train yourself into a better way of thinking about yourself. And then it could give you productive tips for communicating with other people. If you want to get really out there, there is a world where your dating concierge could go and date for you with other dating concierges.” When her audience lets out a peal of uneasy laughter, the CEO continues undeterred, heart-shape earrings bouncing with each sweep of her hands. “No, no, truly. And then you don’t have to talk to 600 people. It will then scan all of San Francisco for you and say, These are the three people you really ought to meet. ”

What Herd provides here is much more than a darkly whimsical peek into a dystopian future of online dating. It’s a window into a future in which people require layer upon layer of algorithmic mediation between them in order to carry out the most basic of human interactions: those involving romance, sex, friendship, comfort, food. Implicit in Herd’s proclamation—that her app will “ teach you how to date”—is the assumption that AI will soon understand proper human behavior in ways that human beings do not. Despite Herd’s insistence that such a service would empower us, what she’s actually describing is the replacement of human courtship rituals: Your digital proxy will go on innumerable dates for you, so you don’t have to practice anything so pesky as flirting and socializing.

Read: America is sick of swiping

Hypothetical AI dating concierges sound silly, and they are not exactly humanity’s greatest threat. But we might do well to think of the Bumble founder’s bubbly sales pitch as a canary in the coal mine, a harbinger of a world of algorithms that leave people struggling to be people without assistance. The new AI products coming to market are gate-crashing spheres of activity that were previously the sole province of human beings. Responding to these often disturbing developments requires a principled way of disentangling uses of AI that are legitimately beneficial and prosocial from those that threaten to atrophy our life skills and independence. And that requires us to have a clear idea of what makes human beings human in the first place.

In 1977, Ivan Illich, an Austrian-born philosopher, vagabond priest , and ruthless critic of metastatic bureaucracies, declared that we had entered “the age of Disabling Professions.” Modernity was characterized, in Illich’s view, by the standardization and professionalization of everyday life. Activities that were once understood to be within the competencies of laypeople—say, raising children or bandaging the wounded—were suddenly brought under the purview of technical experts who claimed to possess “secret knowledge,” bestowed by training and elite education, that was beyond the ken of the untutored masses. The licensed physician displaced the local healer. Child psychologists and their “cutting edge” research superseded parents and their instincts. Data-grubbing nutritionists replaced the culinary wisdom of grandmothers.

Illich’s singular insight was that the march of professional reason—the transformation of Western civilization into a technocratic enterprise ruled by what we now call “best practices”—promised to empower us but actually made us incompetent, dependent on certified experts to make decisions that were once the jurisdiction of the common man. “In any area where a human need can be imagined,” Illich wrote , “these new professions, dominant, authoritative, monopolistic, legalized—and, at the same time, debilitating and effectively disabling the individual—have become exclusive experts of the public good.” Modern professions inculcate the belief not only that their credentialed representatives can solve your problems for you, but also that you are incapable of solving said problems for yourself. In the case of some industries, like medicine, this is plainly a positive development. Other examples, like the ballooning wellness industry, are far more dubious.

If the entrenchment of specialists in science, schooling, child-rearing, and so on is among the pivotal developments of the 20th century, the rise of online dating is among the most significant of the 21st. But one key difference between this more recent advancement and those of yesteryear is that websites such as Tinder and Hinge are defined not by disabling professionals with fancy degrees, but by disabling algorithms . The white-coated expert has been replaced by digital services that cut out the human middleman and replace him with an (allegedly) even smarter machine, one that promises to know you better than you know yourself.

Faith Hill: ‘Nostalgia for a dating experience they’ve never had’

And it’s not just dating apps. Supposed innovations including machine-learning-enhanced meal-kit companies such as HelloFresh, Spotify recommendations, and ChatGPT suggest that we have entered the Age of Disabling Algorithms as tech companies simultaneously sell us on our existing anxieties and help nurture new ones. At the heart of it all is the kind of AI bait-and-switch peddled by the Bumble CEO. Algorithms are now tooled to help you develop basic life skills that decades ago might have been taken as a given: How to date. How to cook a meal. How to appreciate new music. How to write and reflect. Like an episode out of Black Mirror , the machines have arrived to teach us how to be human even as they strip us of our humanity. We have reason to be worried.

As conversations over the dangers of artificial intelligence have heated up over the past 18 months—largely thanks to the meteoric rise of large language models like ChatGPT—the focus of both the media and Silicon Valley has been on Skynet scenarios. The primary fear is that chat models may experience an “intelligence explosion” as they are scaled up, meaning that LLMs might proceed rapidly from artificial intelligence to artificial general intelligence to artificial superintelligence (ASI) that is both smarter and more powerful than even the smartest human beings. This is often called the “fast takeoff” scenario, and the concern is that if ASI slips out of humanity’s control—and how could it not—it might choose to wipe out our species, or even enslave us.

These AI “existential risk” debates—at least the ones being waged in public —have taken on a zero-sum quality: They are almost exclusively between those who believe that the aforementioned Terminator-style dangers are real, and others who believe that these are Hollywood-esque fantasies that distract the public from more sublunar AI-related problems, like algorithmic discrimination , autonomous weapons systems , or ChatGPT-facilitated cheating . But this is a false binary, one that excludes another possibility: Artificial intelligence could significantly diminish humanity, even if machines never ascend to superintelligence, by sapping the ability of human beings to do human things.

The epochal impact of online dating is there for all to see in a simple line graph from a 2019 study . It shows the explosive growth of online dating since 1995, the year that Match.com, the world’s first online-dating site, was launched . That year, only 2 percent of heterosexual couples reported meeting online. By 2017, that figure had jumped to 39 percent as other ways of meeting—through friends or family, at work or in church—declined precipitously.

Besides online dating, the only way of meeting that increased during this period was meeting at a bar or restaurant. However, the authors of the study noted that this ostensible increase was a mirage: The “apparent post-2010 rise in meeting through bars and restaurants for heterosexual couples is due entirely to couples who met online and subsequently had a first in-person meeting at a bar or restaurant or other establishment where people gather and socialize. If we exclude the couples who first met online from the bar/restaurant category, the bar/restaurant category was significantly declining after 1995 as a venue for heterosexual couples to meet.” In other words, online dating has become hegemonic. The wingman is out. Digital matchmaking is in.

But even those selling online-dating services seem to know there’s something unsettling about the idea that algorithms, rather than human beings, are now spearheading human romance. A bizarre Tinder ad from last fall featured the rapper Coi Leray playing the role of Cupid, perched on an ominously pink stage, tasked with finding a date for a young woman. A coterie of associates, dressed in Hunger Games chic, grilled a series of potential suitors as Cupid swiped left until the perfect match was found. These characters put human faces on an inhuman process.

Leif Weatherby, an expert on the history of AI development and the author of a forthcoming book on large language models, told me that ads like this are a neat distillation of Silicon Valley’s marketing playbook. “We’re seeing a general trend of selling AI as ‘empowering,’ a way to extend your ability to do something, whether that’s writing, making investments, or dating,” Weatherby explained. “But what really happens is that we become so reliant on algorithmic decisions that we lose oversight over our own thought processes and even social relationships. The rhetoric of AI empowerment is sheep’s clothing for Silicon Valley wolves who are deliberately nurturing the public’s dependence on their platforms.” Curtailing human independence, then, is not a bug, but a feature of the AI gold rush.

Of course, there is an extent to which this nurtured dependence isn’t unique to AI, but is an inevitable by-product of innovation. The broad uptake of any new technology generally atrophies the human skills for the processes that said technology makes more efficient or replaces outright. The advent of the vacuum was no doubt accompanied by a corresponding decline in the average American’s deftness with a broom. The difference between technologies of convenience, like the vacuum or the washing machine, and platforms like Tinder or ChatGPT is that the latter are concerned with atrophying competencies, like romantic socializing or thinking and reflection, that are fundamental to what it is to be a human being.

Read: AI has lost its magic

The response to our algorithmically remade world can’t simply be that algorithms are bad, sensu stricto. Such a stance isn’t just untenable at a practical level—algorithms aren’t going anywhere—but it also undermines unimpeachably positive use cases, such as the employment of AI in cancer diagnosis . Instead, we need to adopt a more sophisticated approach to artificial intelligence, one that allows us to distinguish between uses of AI that legitimately empower human beings and those—like hypothetical AI dating concierges—that wrest core human activities from human control. But making these distinctions requires us to re-embrace an old idea that tends to leave those of us on the left rather squeamish: human nature.

Both Western intellectuals and the progressive public tend to be hostile to the idea that there is a universal “human nature,” a phrase that now has right-wing echoes . Instead, those on the left prefer to emphasize the diversity, and equality, of varying human cultural traditions. But this discomfort with adopting a strong definition of human nature compromises our ability to draw red lines in a world where AI encroaches on human territory. If human nature doesn’t exist, and if there is no core set of fundamental human activities, desires, or traits, on what basis can we argue against the outsourcing of those once-human endeavors to machines? We can’t take a stand against the infiltration of algorithms into the human estate if we don’t have a well-developed sense of which activities make humans human , and which activities—like sweeping the floor or detecting pancreatic cancer —can be outsourced to nonhuman surrogates without diminishing our agency.

One potential way out of this impasse is offered by the so-called capability approach to human flourishing developed by the philosopher Martha Nussbaum and others. In rejection of the kind of knee-jerk cultural relativism that often prevails in progressive political thought, Nussbaum’s work insists that advocating for the poor or marginalized, at home or abroad, requires us to agree on universal “basic human capabilities” that citizens should be able to develop. Nussbaum includes among these basic capabilities “being able to imagine, to think, and to reason” and “to engage in various forms of familial and social interaction.” A good society, according to the capability approach, is one in which human beings are not just theoretically free to engage in these basic human endeavors, but are actually capable of doing so.

As AI is built into an ever-expanding roster of products and services, covering dating, essay writing, and music and recipe recommendations, we need to be able to make granular, rational decisions about which uses of artificial intelligence expand our basic human capabilities, and which cultivate incompetence and incapacity under the guise of empowerment. Disabling algorithms are disabling precisely because they leave us less capable of, and more anxious about, carrying out essential human behaviors.

Of course, some will object to the idea that there is any such thing as fundamental human activities. They may even argue that describing behaviors like dating and making friends, critical thinking, or cooking as central to the human condition is ableist or otherwise bigoted. After all, some people are asexual or introverted. Others with mental disabilities might not be adept at reflection, or written or oral communication. Some folks simply do not want to cook, an activity which is historically gendered besides. But this objection relies on a sleight of hand. Identifying certain activities as fundamental to the human enterprise does not require you to believe that those who don’t or can’t engage in them are inhuman, just as embracing the idea that the human species is bipedal does not require you to believe that people born without legs lack full personhood. It only asks that you acknowledge that there are some endeavors that are vital aspects of the human condition, taken in the aggregate, and that a society where people broadly lack these capacities is not a good one.

Without some minimal agreement as to what those basic human capabilities are—what activities belong to the jurisdiction of our species, not to be usurped by machines—it becomes difficult to pin down why some uses of artificial intelligence delight and excite, while others leave many of us feeling queasy.

What makes many applications of artificial intelligence so disturbing is that they don’t expand our mind’s capacity to think, but outsource it. AI dating concierges would not enhance our ability to make romantic connections with other humans, but obviate it. In this case, technology diminishes us, and that diminishment may well become permanent if left unchecked. Over the long term, human beings in a world suffused with AI-enablers will likely prove less capable of engaging in fundamental human activities: analyzing ideas and communicating them, forging spontaneous connections with others, and the like. While this may not be the terrifying, robot-warring future imagined by the Terminator movies, it would represent another kind of existential catastrophe for humanity.

Whether or not the Bumble founder’s dream of artificial-intelligence-induced dalliances ever comes to fruition is an open question, but it is also somewhat beside the point. What should give us real pause is the understanding of AI, now ubiquitous in Big Tech, that underlies her dystopian prognostications. Silicon Valley leaders have helped make a world in which people feel that everyday social interactions, whether dating or making simple phone calls, require expert advice and algorithmic assistance. AI threatens to turbocharge this process. Even if your personalized dating concierge is not here yet, the sales pitch for them has already arrived, and that sales pitch is almost as dangerous as the technology itself: AI will teach you how to be a human.

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Guest Essay

The Story of South Africa No Longer Makes Sense

By William Shoki

Mr. Shoki is a South African journalist and the editor of Africa Is a Country. He wrote from Cape Town.

The ceremony went virtually unnoticed. On an overcast April day in South Africa’s administrative capital, Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a lackluster speech commemorating the end of white-minority rule in South Africa. When Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the country’s first Black president, the skies were sunny with hope. Thirty years later, Mr. Ramaphosa’s enervated display against a gloomy backdrop was symbolic of decline. The African National Congress, Mr. Ramaphosa’s party, has been politically dominant since the country’s first democratic vote in 1994. In the general elections on Wednesday, it may lose its parliamentary majority for the first time.

This is uncharted territory. On several occasions, the former South African president Jacob Zuma proclaimed that the A.N.C. would rule “ until Jesus comes back .” Now Mr. Zuma is hoping to unseat the party that enabled his notorious graft. Founded in December last year, uMkhonto weSizwe, or M.K. — named after the A.N.C.’s former military wing — features him as its face. Even though he has been disqualified from running for office by the country’s highest court, the party has mobilized thousands of his supporters behind its populist platform. If it can overcome its internal factional battles and legal troubles, it may pose one of the greatest risks to the A.N.C.’s vote share and force it into coalition.

The party’s emergence is one of the many morbid symptoms in South Africa today. The A.N.C. is shorn of its purpose, a shadow of its former self, and the country it has long stewarded is troubled by collapsing infrastructure, systemic corruption, waning central authority and violent crime. Thirty years on from apartheid’s end, South Africa is in the midst of another complex transformation. What comes next is unclear. But given the country’s fragmentation, it is unlikely to be good.

How did we get here? At his state of the nation address in February, Mr. Ramaphosa allegorized the country’s post-apartheid trajectory through the fictional figure of Tintswalo, a woman born in 1994 who would go on to benefit from the deracialized expansion of social services like education, housing, electricity and health care. As many have pointed out , this democratic dividend persisted for at least the first 15 years of South Africa’s post-apartheid history when economic growth was strong, international market conditions were favorable and state management was competent.

The turning point came in 2009 — the year Mr. Zuma took power and a year after the global financial crisis. What followed was a comprehensive backsliding in life chances, political expectations and economic prospects. The A.N.C.’s hegemony was punctured by a series of consensus-shattering episodes: the Marikana massacre in 2012, in which 34 miners were killed by the police; the formation of the Economic Freedom Fighters in 2013 by a former A.N.C. youth leader; the expulsion of the National Union of Metalworkers from the country’s largest trade union federation, which is formally allied with the A.N.C.; and widespread student protests in 2015 and 2016.

All these developments called into question the conceptual foundations of the post-apartheid settlement, not least rainbowism, the young state’s founding myth of a nonracial, cooperative democracy on a forward march of progress aimed at healing the legacies of apartheid and colonialism. This universalist vision, encapsulated in the assertion in the A.N.C.’s 1955 Freedom Charter that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it,” was gradually undermined by enduring inequalities and a state overrun by corruption. In its place, a void opened up.

No political force, for all the A.N.C.’s loss of support, has yet emerged to fill it. The Economic Freedom Fighters, led by the militant Julius Malema, was once one of the most exciting entrants in the electoral landscape. But its national profile has stalled, and where it has governed — such as in coalition with the A.N.C. in Johannesburg and Durban — it has a less than inspiring record. The party’s claim to be more authentic executors of the A.N.C.’s politics of national liberation, willing to properly confront what it labels white monopoly capital, makes it harder to stand apart. This may not be a problem, with some speculation that it seeks a place in the government as a junior coalition partner.

The other main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has taken another route. Whereas the Economic Freedom Fighters’ animating grievance is that post-apartheid democracy did little to reclaim political and economic control for Black South Africans, the Democratic Alliance has underscored white hang-ups about Black-majority government. The party has long abandoned the strategy of cultivating Black leadership in its ranks, and its campaign has mostly consisted of alarmist warnings about continued A.N.C. rule — what its allies call Zimbabwefication — while flirting with separatist sentiments in its redoubt of the Western Cape Province.

South African political life once proceeded on assumptions of common citizenship; politicians disagreed on questions of governance and distribution, but there was a shared, if sometimes reluctant, commitment to the democratic process and belief in each South African’s membership in the polity. Now the so-called national question dominates the political spectrum. The question of who we are has superseded more programmatic questions of what kind of society South Africans want to live in.

In this vacuum of political imagination , identity has become the dividing line of society. To the right of the major parties are more overtly chauvinist forces. Parties like ActionSA, headed by a former mayor of Johannesburg, combine law-and-order invectives with anti-migrant policies. This posture is shared by the Patriotic Alliance, a formation run by a former gangster that has consolidated its base — voters who are mostly colored, as multiethnic South Africans are called — through a revived colored nationalism. Rise Mzansi, led by a former business journalist who compares himself to President Emmanuel Macron of France, diverges from this script. But its limited appeal to urbane professionals will do little to assuage a growing sense that the country’s cleavages are insurmountable.

Amid global discontent with liberal democracy, South Africa is not alone in seeing revanchism reshape the political terrain. The public’s response, generally, has been resignation. In 1994, with a turnout of 86 percent, more than 12 million South Africans voted for Mr. Mandela’s government. After centuries of oppression, exploitation and struggle, people were filled with hope that democracy would deliver a better life. By the last national election, in 2019, turnout had dropped by 20 percent, and over two million A.N.C. voters had been lost. Fed up by the government’s failure to improve their lives, many have simply given up on politics.

This process of disengagement — manifest in declining participation in trade unions, civic associations and political parties — is hard to square with the images of the multiracial, multiethnic, cross-class movement against apartheid that led the world to believe South Africans were uniquely endowed with high levels of social consciousness and good will. As that national story loses coherence, the country is reinventing itself. Like Tintswalo, the new South Africa has come of age and is on the verge of becoming something different. Right now, we just don’t know what.

William Shoki is the editor at Africa Is a Country, an independent online publication.

Source images from Getty Images, Associated Press, Reuters, Satour, SABC News, News24 and the collection of the artist

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