> Nope. Which list of people 30 years ago were 'famous for being famous' and which cohort of society aspired to be them? Name names.
It was not 'a thing' aside from a few random, quixotic people. Nobody wanted to 'be them' or thought they could be that.
People started doing X because some famous person did X is the story as old as times. You, of all people, should know that, given how many Software Engineers started because they wanted to be Jobs, Gates, Carmack, etc.
> Yes, we live in different circumstances, that's fair.
But my grandparents were born in homes without electricity or plumbing. They did not turn to prostitution or aspire to the 'least' they could be.
What prostitution?
> Because being a great athlete or artists (or scientist etc.) is not 'a propos of nothing'.
Yes, it's a bit glib for people to fanboy athlete's the way we do, and Michael Jordan is a jerk, but he's also a spectacular athlete.
And popular influencers are great marketers, comic artists, entertainers.
People started doing X because some famous person did X is the story as old as times. You, of all people, should know that, given how many Software Engineers started because they wanted to be Jobs, Gates, Carmack, etc.
> Yes, we live in different circumstances, that's fair. But my grandparents were born in homes without electricity or plumbing. They did not turn to prostitution or aspire to the 'least' they could be.
What prostitution?
> Because being a great athlete or artists (or scientist etc.) is not 'a propos of nothing'. Yes, it's a bit glib for people to fanboy athlete's the way we do, and Michael Jordan is a jerk, but he's also a spectacular athlete.
And popular influencers are great marketers, comic artists, entertainers.