Human desire for fame

nobodythere

When I was younger (now 17) I always wanted to be famous. I thought that this would provide fulfillment in life. There was nothing worth more than anything in the world to be admired.

As I grew older I graduated into a sort of post-conventional morality (for you non trendy buzzword people I just mean I developed a genuine sense of love and empathy for people), and suddenly it became less important to be admired. It just became important that the people close to me were happy and that there was a good reason to stay alive. In retrospect, it's as if my purpose and level of success in life were dictated by what other people defined as a successful and fulfilling life.

Tracing this back, I remember when I took up guitar that I dreamed of being famous. The fame came before the art. Of course I'd love to be appreciated for making good music, but the focus is not on being appreciated, it's on making good music.

I've also found that some of the most immoral, uncaring and dishonest people I've met have grown up and still have this thirst and desire for fame without having the thirst and desire for what they want to be famous for.

What are your thoughts on fame? Did you want to be famous as a kid?

Dave!

Well, I personally amn't really set on "being famous", but I DO want to earn alot of money; not so that I can feel successful or anything, just because the world runs on money these days, so if I want to do any of the things that I want to do with my life, I need money. Go to Australia, get a boat/yacht, have a big house with a huge park around it, etc., etc.. I've got lots of things that I wanna do, but they all cost money unfortunately.

Tom Dunne

It's interesting that this topic arises since I have just been introduced to the X-Factor Xtra (I think that's what it is called?). It's the program that shows those that didn't quite make it onto the X-Factor on ITV. I find it utterly incredulous that a person would be so driven by the need for fame to put themselves through the torment that is the X-factor selection process. These people seem to be driven purely by the lure of money, nothing else.

Personally, I am driven by happiness, not money. If I am content, kept busy and/or sane, and those around me are happy, then that is all I ask for. Of course, I would love the big car, the big house, the yacht, but I am not driven to seek these, I am driven to be happy.

Therefore fame doesn't appeal to me.

Gazza22

I aspire for a great qualification and salary though fame doesn't appeal to me at all.

nobodythere

I also have quarrels with that. I don't aspire to a great salary. I would actually dislike being rich. I find more reality in the world that I'm in. I'm just one of those people who has always been discontent with that pattern (job, car, wife, kids). I'm probably evolutionarily defective or something... I don't know.

I don't think that success is something that can be measured by your money. If I was on a deathbed full of money I'd still be dissatisfied, I'd be dying thinking "What did I change?", "What was it that made my life worth living?"

Sleepy

Couldn't care less about fame, in fact I'm sure I'd hate being famous given the modern media. I just don't understand the muppets like Jodie Kidd, Jade Goody et al who are just famous for being famous. It just seems to be a vulgar reaction to an overwhelming desire to be liked.

Being famous for having a great talent for something is understandable and I think for many of those that have genuine talent, fame is one of the downsides of being successful.

Dades

grasshopa wrote:

I don't aspire to a great salary. I would actually dislike being rich. I find more reality in the world that I'm in. I'm just one of those people who has always been discontent with that pattern (job, car, wife, kids). I'm probably evolutionarily defective or something... I don't know.

I don't subscribe to this at all. This is just a perception that in order to get rich you must sacrifice your ideals in the first place. It sounds like what you're saying is I don't want to be rich if I have to work for it.

If you were rich through, say, inheritance, you could afford to live any way you wanted. You could live in a rundown house, cycle a bike, or travel the world and study other cultures.

Money = freedom

Yes you are still as likely to die or cancer or get run over by a bus but your last thought going to bed every night won't be something like "will I be evicted when my rent goes up?".

BuffyBot

Jodie Kidd

Marsh? Jodie Kidd at least has done something for her questionable fame (i.e been a sucessful model)

Sleepy

Sorry Buffybot, you're right, it was Jodie Marsh I was thinking of...

I agree with The Atheist though, money can't buy happiness but the freedom it affords you certainly puts it closer to reach!

Dave!

^
Exactly, that's my point too.

azezil

Without a doubt the one thing that keeps me in my current job is the acknowledgement I get from my peers and team leader that I'm very good at my job, I get praised all of the time, I can't stand the job I feel its beneath me but I put up with it for the positive feedback and praise.

For me, its not so much a desire for fame, but acknowledgement, to be known for something, I get much satisfaction in the knowledge that others depend on me and that I will be remembered.

While fame may ensure one'd be remember for a long time to come, as others have mentioned I wouldn't be able to tolorate the invasion of privacy that would incur, I would be content to be remember by a close social group, friends and family.

Tobias Greeshman

Sleepy wrote:

Being famous for having a great talent for something is understandable and I think for many of those that have genuine talent, fame is one of the downsides of being successful.

I wholeheartedly agree with you here, think of any good rock band that make a successful album and have to tour it for 6 months to a year. All the press/media related interviews and television appearances can easily become quite tiring and overwhelming, with more time being spent on these PR activities than actually working on what made them successful in the first place (e.g.. the music). As a result while maintaining fame is necessary to stay successful as a celebrity it also does beat down on the person, along with the invasion of privacy from the media that fame tends to bring.

nobodythere

True, money = freedom.

The first problem is that money = power also. Freedom and power, not such a good combination.

I associate money and wealth with corruption, banality and mediocre, unfulfulling lives - true. I think that to attain financial freedom you have to go through a few years of oppressive hell, including stamping over people for promotions etc.... I know this does not apply everywhere but I'm just telling you what I associate it with when I think of being rich.

I know I'm generalising but I hope you can see my point

BrianD3

For me, its not so much a desire for fame, but acknowledgement, to be known for something, I get much satisfaction in the knowledge that others depend on me and that I will be remembered.

True. The desire for fame isn't just about wanting money or a certain lifetstyle. It's about being significant, important, different, special, talented. It's about leaving a legacy and being talked about and remembered by people that you have never met long after you have died.

Human beings can have huge egos and at the same time can be very inseure about their place in the world. The desire for fame results from the realisation that a) the world doesn't revolve around you b) you are just an insignificant Joe Soap like 4 billion others c) you're going to die like everyone else d) you'll be thrown in a hole in the ground/cremated and only your close family and friends that you leave behind will remember that you ever existed.

On this topic I wonder if people turning away from religion has anything to do with an increased desire for fame in modern society?

Personally I laugh at these eejits that get "famous" from being on Big Brother etc. Those shows disgust me and I have no respect for anyone that goes on one. I'd prefer to be an average Joe Soap than some pathetic wannabe with no talent who is "famous" for having appeared on a piece of crap TV show. OTOH I would quite like to be famous for having some talent, doing something good or making people happy.

Dades

grasshopa wrote:

I know I'm generalising but I hope you can see my point

I understand that people can have perception of who wealth is attained. You probably righ in that wealth is usually gained through hard work, and frequently at the expense of others. But you could also write a bestselling novel and make a fortune with a clear conscience. Wealth doesn't have be tarnished.

BrianD3 wrote:

On this topic I wonder if people turning away from religion has anything to do with an increased desire for fame in modern society?

I can't see a connection TBH, but maybe I don't understand the question. Unless you're suggesting that people who no longer believe in an afterlife are trying to create a legacy?

I don't think they are related. The celebrity culture results from the birth of Reality TV and is fed by the tabloid media. These people always existed they were just never given a platform.

Sleepy

I'm with the Atheist. I think people turning away from religion is usually a sign of a race that's increasing in intelligence so I can't see why the burning desire of the stupid to be famous (lets face it, how many of the "stars" of reality TV have had a brain in their heads) has anything to do with it...

rsynnott

Ooh, no, wouldn't be too keen on the idea of being famous.

What drives me in life? Bloody-mindedness, mostly.

AdMMM

I wouldn't subscribe to the idea of there being human desire for fame. I personally don't have time for wanting to be famous. All I want is to be happy and I think I can achieve that without having my face on the front of a number of magazines!

nobodythere

True. You could get famous writing a book. I have grown up around someone who is bitter about not being rich and famous. My dad worked in a bar for 20 years and then went to start up a business of his own because he was so sick of it. Which is cool and I totally respect him for being able to do that. But I have seen him become so consumed by the business and the 'dream' of being able to spend the rest of your life lazing about in the sun.

I don't like that dream at all. This guy gave up any hobbies he had to concentrate on financial independance, and now, if he had financial independance he would have nothing to do with his free time.