We have lots of discussions in class. I spend most of the time arguing for whatever side is not being represented well, but was silent for most of today's conversation. We were talking about cultural identifiers. Specifically, symbols, heroes, and rituals.
It was pretty easy for the class to think of common symbols and rituals that would be identifying of America, but when asked to think of "national heroes" we were left with few specifics. Many people could think of their own personal heroes, but few if any would be considered national heroes. We could think of lots of heroic positions, like military, firefighter, police officer (remembering especially that this discussion happened on September 11). We thought of few names though.
Can you think of any people, living or dead, that would be globally considered (not agreed upon by other nations but primarily agreed upon in America) as a global hero?
We had two specific names to the list, but I want to hear other options.
I immediately thought of three names that may be 'global heroes' - Benjamin Franklin (discovering electricity), Gutenburg (printing press) and Alexander Fleming (discovering the first antibiotic). I think that people usually recall events better than the names involved with the events. For example, I have no idea who discovered the first computer.
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