There are two types of people in this world, the do-ers, and those who critique them.

Some people become athletes, some people become sports writers..some people become actors/musicians, some people critique them..and some people become CEOs/founders, and some people become write gossip rags about them.

I’m sure it’s safe to say that those in the sports/movie industry at some point as a child dreamed of being on the field in front of 80,000 fans, or starring in the big screen and having their name up in lights.

I can’t picture an 8-year-old kid watching his favorite player hitting a walk-off home run or scoring a game winning touchdown and thinking to himself, “I WANNA WRITE ABOUT THAT ONE DAY!”, or coming out of his favorite movie and think “MOMMY I WANT TO REVIEW THAT MOVIE WHEN I GROW UP!”.

Are the critics of those admired in our society for doing something above and beyond what everyone else is capable simply exorcising demons from an unfulfilled childhood? At what point did he put down the pigskin, or microphone, and pick up a keyboard? What motivates people to plain out attack others, with no regards whatsoever to their how they may feel about it–e.g. when the attackee is a defenseless child?

What motivates someone to camp out in front of another celebrity’s house with a camera and take pictures of him taking out his garbage? How do you go to sleep at night knowing you pay your bills by digging deep into the scene of someone who just died, and snapping away?We have a tendency to criticize those who we feel are superior to us, and bring them down to our levels.

We like to humanize those who do the inhumaneable (definitely used in the wrong context there), and allow ourselves to think, hey he’s just like me. And in the end, they really are. They just happen to have a special talent or ability that sets them apart in the eyes of the public, they’re not superhuman at all.Tom Brady may be able to launch a football 40 yards with pinpoint accuracy to a moving target, but I’m sure I can do a Rubik’s cube faster than him. Tom Hanks may be able to pull make a movie that generates $100mm (or 8), but does he know the derivative of cos(x) –(an old math professor of mine who had him said he was never good at math).Society simply happens to value certain things that these guys excel greatly in. If Hanks/Brady happened to live in say, Yemen, would they be standouts?

Maybe not, as it takes a different type of person to really garner attention. In our side of the world though, possessing strong throwing arms or good vocal chords sets you far and above others..

The previous post was inspired by this post.