People thirst for heroes. Back in 2010, on the eve of the release of our first book, Heroes: What They Do & Why We Need them, we decided to blog about them.
Little did we know that a decade later our heroes blog would be visited by over two million people. We’ve had visitors from all 50 states and 250 countries.
The 20 nations who visit our blog most frequently are the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Australia, the Philippines, India, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, New Zealand, China, South Africa, Singapore, and Mexico. We thank all of you for visiting us, leaving comments on our blog posts, and giving us helpful feedback and suggestions.
The top 10 U.S. states to visit us are, in order, California, Texas, New York, Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Ohio.
What is it about heroes that has us longing for them? Like this blog, heroism science is only a decade old, but we’re learning more and more about why the world hungers for heroes. A number of researchers have identified 12 functions of heroes:
- Heroes give us hope
- Heroes energize us
- Heroes develop us
- Heroes heal us
- Heroes impart wisdom
- Heroes are role models for morality
- Heroes offer safety and protection
- Heroes give us positive emotions
- Heroes give us meaning and purpose
- Heroes provide social connection and reduce loneliness
- Heroes help individuals achieve personal goals
- Heroes help society achieve societal goals
We’ve been studying heroes for many years and we’ve discovered many phenomena related to heroism. So please do suggest some names for us to profile, or issues for us to address in commentary pieces. In the mean time, thanks so much for visiting us and for supporting today’s heroes.
–— Scott Allison and George Goethals, Professors of Psychology and Leadership Studies
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Ideal blog I’ve studied in ages, cheers mate – favorited.
I’m truly liking your blog, thanks for sharing.
Heroes are part of our day to day life’s and humanity’s mythology. We all can dream and have hopes to be or become a hero on any day, and to make a difference. Movies and Songs all over the world provide us with a glimpse and view of each generation’s heroes.
Great Post.
Paul
Thanks for continuing to publish this Blog, Scotty and George. It’s a continuous source of inspiration and interesting information. And I’d like to recommend that everyone reading pick up the book; it’s a great read– like this Blog, only longer. 😀
As for suggestions: Since Secretariat is the big winner, how about more in that vein? Black Beauty, Fury, Mister Ed, Silver, Scout…. 😉
I’ve been following these blogs for a while now. Whenever I’m feeling a little down about the way things are going, I just browse about some of the titles here and find some inspiration. I always try and keep my chin up no matter what the circumstances are.
To Scott and George
First of all thank you for the blog! I just spent another 30 minutes reading here. You guys have a nice style of writing, keep it up. And also thank you for approving a comment that was a bit against the grain in your LAdy Gaga Post. That impressed me.
I bookmarked about 5 posts so far in Stumbleupon..hope that also helps.
Thanks Again!
^You’re very welcome, and thank you for visiting our blog and expressing your opinion. The hero concept is worthy of public discussion, if only to help us all distinguish the true heroes out there from the false ones.
Best wishes to you!
Some of my favorite heroes are featured in this Music video. If you like heroes and being inspired, you will like watching it =) http://video.tagged.com/#v=-IUSZyjiYuY
Scott and George, that is insane! I’m actually working on my own blog about epic music and it’s posts like yours that inspire me to keep working even though I feel like I don’t have enough listeners. I’m currently at 50-100 hits a day although I just started. Can you give me any advice for getting some great start up traffic besides the obvious ways? (social media, seo, etc..)
Thanks a lot and keep working on the blog, we love it.
Nice blog. You are still getting good number of visitors. You have a good alexa rank of 66356. Its great. Here is my site http://www.vio-club.com
. Thanks
Great heroes blog!
Great blog Scott and i thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work. Barry
Scott and George – great work on maintaining the hero blog! I am glad it has developed into such a great resource for your readers. How about Eddie Murphey? I think he is a comedic hero of our times.
-Paul
Thank you for your kind words, Paul. Eddie Murphy is indeed a comedic hero to many people. We’ll take your idea into consideration. We appreciate your readership and we thank you for supporting today’s heroes!
Congratulations! People don’t realise how much work goes into a blog like this — it’s quite an achievement! Here’s to the next 100,000!
Thank you very much, Kid in the Front Row!
Scott I think the old comic characters are way too cool in comparison with what we see right now. Ashton Kutcher have spoiled my favorite TV show…And for me the best comic guy will always be Cosmo Kramer! Good luck Scott!
Congratulations on your success! Keep up the great work… Matt
I love this sort of positive messaging. I think we need a lot more of it rather than the doom and gloom that shows up on the news!! Keep up the great work!
Good work, keep up, Here’s to the next 100,000.
Hey guys, cool site. Inspirational reading on what makes hero’s and the effects they have on us all. Good role modelling and self mastery. Looking forward to seeing the book.
Wow!I love this sort of positive messaging. I think we need a lot more of it rather than the doom and gloom that shows up on the news!! Keep up the great work!Thanks a lot for sharing that..Thanks..Carry on..
Hi, I think I’ve been here since 2012 or so, reading and posting my first comment on an article.
Anyway, congrats and more visitors to come! 🙂
Oh, this post is dated 2012… it’s 2016 now… so visitors who have come here are probably in millions now. 🙂