The Neothink Society · Human Nature · November 2009
A true hero is a value creator who places the protection of life above the protection of self. Heroism is action driven by love large enough to carry someone else out of harm's reach, fear present and overridden.
Veterans Day, recognized in the United States on November 11th and as Remembrance Day in Canada, sets aside a single day for that recognition. Across the world, the pattern holds the same: men and women have stood between violence and the lives of others so those lives could continue. Anyone who places their own life in service to the protection of life has already crossed into heroism.
One life carries the definition completely.
On November 14th, 1965, an American infantry unit was pinned down in the La Drang Valley of Vietnam, outnumbered roughly eight to one. Enemy fire was so intense that the Medi-Vac helicopters were ordered to stop coming in. The wounded were left in the field with no way out.
Ed Freeman was not a Medi-Vac pilot. Picking up the wounded was not his assignment, and his unarmed Huey carried no Medi-Vac markings. He flew in anyway. He brought his helicopter down into machine gun fire, held it there while two or three wounded men were loaded aboard, and lifted them out to the doctors and nurses.
Then he went back. He went back thirteen more times. He carried roughly thirty wounded men out of that field. Many of them would not have survived without him.
Ed Freeman received the Medal of Honor. He died on October 7th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho.
The Order
Heroism is set by the order of a person's priorities: the protection of life placed in front of the protection of self.
What made his life beautiful was the order of his priorities. He put the protection of life itself in front, and let that become the driving force of his own. Bravery did not cancel his fear; bravery generated through love delivered a mind that produces life-giving value for others under conditions designed to produce death.
A true hero is the person who places the protection of life above the protection of self, and the measure of the hero is the life-giving value carried to others under conditions designed to produce death.
This is the standard the Society holds. The heroes worth naming are the people who live by truthful honesty and act on it with convictions that move toward saving and lifting the lives of others. The capacity to be someone's hero, to bring real value into another person's life, is available to any self-led adult who chooses to live by it.
The Standard
The capacity to be someone's hero is available to any self-led adult who chooses to live by truthful honesty and act on it.
Most people spend their energy on possessions that give nothing back. Life-giving value works the other way. A value created and shared passes to another person, and to another, across time, holding down the forces of decline wherever it travels. The Neothink mind builds a life around exactly this: the deliberate creation and sharing of value that makes other lives stronger.
That is what a true hero does. Ed Freeman did it thirteen times over, under fire, for men he had never met. The life he saved many times over is the measure of the life he lived.
Common Questions
What is a true hero? A true hero is a value creator who places the protection of life above the protection of self. Heroism is action driven by love large enough to carry someone else out of harm's reach, with fear present and overridden rather than absent.
How is heroism different from ordinary bravery? Bravery is the willingness to act in the face of fear. Heroism is bravery aimed at saving and lifting the lives of others. Ed Freeman was afraid; the fear did not cancel. What made the action heroic was the priority it served, the protection of life over the protection of self.
Why is life-giving value the standard of heroism? Most effort goes to possessions that give nothing back. A value created and shared passes from one person to another across time, holding down the forces of decline wherever it travels. The hero produces that life-giving value for others under conditions designed to produce death, which is why the value carried is the true measure.
What turns fear into heroic action? Love large enough to put another life ahead of one's own. Bravery generated through that love delivers a mind that keeps producing value for others when self-protection would be the easier course. The mechanism is the order of priorities, not the absence of fear.
Why does Ed Freeman illustrate the definition? On November 14th, 1965, in the La Drang Valley, Freeman flew an unarmed Huey into machine gun fire to carry out wounded men after the Medi-Vac helicopters were ordered to stop. He went back thirteen times and carried roughly thirty men to the doctors. One life carries the definition completely, and his does.
How does this connect to the Neothink mind? The Neothink mind builds a life around the deliberate creation and sharing of value that makes other lives stronger. Heroism is that same standard under extreme conditions. The capacity to bring real value into another person's life is available to any self-led adult who chooses to live by it.
Further Reading
- Life-Giving Value. The value that passes from person to person across time and holds down the forces of decline.
- Value Creation. The deliberate building and sharing of value that makes other lives stronger.
- The Self-Led Individual. The adult who chooses to live by truthful honesty and act on it.
- The Neothink Mind. The way of thinking that builds a life around creating and sharing value.
- Truthful Honesty. The standard of seeing and stating reality that the heroes worth naming live by.
Membership is by application.