Who We Admire and Qualities We Value

As a Society, They're Changing

The 2023 Winners of the Nobel in Physics. My guess is, you can’t name any of them.¹

Over the weekend, I was having dinner with my family at a local restaurant and a group of mid-20 somethings were at the next table over. Not that I was eavesdropping, but they were talking a little louder (over the sounds of the sports played on the televisions) and it was hard NOT to hear what they were saying. They were talking a lot about the politics of the moment and Tim Walz (I’m in Minnesota) and the campaigns, etc. One of them, who proudly exclaimed about how she had a sociology degree, said something that really kind of piqued my interest.

To paraphrase what the discussion turned to, it went something like this:

100 years ago, the person people wanted their kids to grow up to be was President. It didn’t matter if you were living in Nebraska of California, whether Democrat or Republican, you still respected the office of President and that position was the epitome of the top of the pyramid success. Second on the list would be a millionaire or captain of industry. To be rich was to be seen as successful. That still bears out today when people ask whom they most admire; the top vote getter is usually the President, and most of the runner-ups are famous wealthy businessmen. However, TODAY, most parents want their kids in more objective lines of work, less tied to financial success; scientists, electricians, teachers. Politics and business are actually towards the bottom of what they want their kids to get into. Kids, meanwhile, want to be rich and glamorous, as they always have, and want to be influencers like Kendall Jenner.² The studies bear this out, that people want their kids to be LESS rich and famous, and more grounded and happy.

Now, anecodal as it was and although I have no real basis for knowing if it was true or not, this is the kind of thing I love to think about and toy around with. I didn’t know how much I bought into it, but it makes sense. I mean, occupational values do change with the times. Before the television and movie age, acting was considered a low profession. Once movies came along, people could become famous and wealthy doing it. It became moreso with television. Now, with “reality” television and social media, anyone could become famous.³ Today as an “influencer,” you can be wealthy just by being yourself on YouTube. Meanwhile, running for office or building a business, enduring the slings and arrows of society, seems much less something to work towards. Society has begun to disdain elected public service to such a degree few want to do it, and those that do are the most extreme.

So to test the theory, I put up my own unscientific poll on Threads. “If you could wish your child would become one of the following, which would you prefer?”⁴

• President of the United States

• Richest Person in the World

• Oscar Winning Actor/Actress

• Nobel Winning Physicist

So we have success in politics, business, the arts and science. You also have various scale as to success based on money and fame. At the bottom would probably be Nobel Physicist; most couldnt name who won the Nobel for Physics last year⁵ and their salaries are almost always based on teaching and grants. Meanwhile, you have richest person in the world, and really no description of where that wealth came from—could be anything. Presidents and Oscar winners don’t always make much but can also make a lot, depends on a number of factors.

So what were the results of the poll after 24 hours?

A whopping 68% wanted their kids to be a Nobel Physicist. I was kind of astounded.⁶ The two tied for lowest with 12% each were President and Oscar Winner. That non-credentialed (may have been, I just don’t know) sociologist at the next table was onto something here. Our values as a society are changing. The need to be well known and famous are being replaced with being objective. Who would’ve thunk it!?!?! I mean, I kind of get it too; social media is filled with subjectivity and people spouting unwarranted and unsubstantiated opinions, that we as a society are now gravitating towards objective and substantitated facts almost reflexively to help filter out the noise.

The appeal of being the most powerful person in the world is being replaced by understanding and unleashing the powers of the universe. Throughout history there has always been an ebb and flow to what professions are in and which ones are out. Law, government and politics seem to be out in a very big way.

Which also goes a ways to describing the appeal of someone like Trump, who never had any background in it when he first ran in 2015. Anyone associated with making a career in government is now derisively labeled by him and his followers as a member of “the swamp.” And the way he’s made a mockery of all of our institutions and processes. And the way he made running for and being President about as tacky as a reality game show. And how he made his perceived wealth work for him. It also goes a long way to demonstrating why people are so averse to having their kids involved in it anymore.

And in a way, that’s too bad. As a society we need smart, public minded people in office and working for government. It’s how we maintain those institutions that underscore our democracy. We’re losing the social element, the personal skills that help ensure things get done. We’re losing the “wink and a nod” attitude that reassure people to help. We’ve all but lost the ability to negotiate a compromise that benefits everyone without first threatening a scorched earth politics. Yes, the world needs physicists; it also needs a lot more people in government too.

PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day

In the history of the Gallup “Most Admired Man” poll (women have their own poll), only three people other than a President have won it.

The first was Douglas McArthur, who won it in the initial poll, and then won it again a few years later.

The second was Henry Kissinger, who won it between 1973-75.

The most recent was Pope John Paul II, in 1980 after he ascended to the papacy. The first Polish pope and one that was strongly anti-Communist at a time the Cold War was at its height.

Since 1981, it has always been the sitting President who has won, although in 2019, Trump and Obama actually tied.

PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject

“Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks

Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such.”

—Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson

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Footnotes and Fun Stuff

1. They are, left to right, Pierre Agostini, Ferec Krausz and Anne L’huiller. They won for… “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”

2. An interesting footnote to that in the 1950s, the top 2 votegetters of what kids wanted to be were Joe Dimaggio or Mickey Mantle. Among women it was Marilyn Monroe who was married to Dimaggio at the time. The Glamorous Life has always been popular among those growing up, and I’m not just talking about the Sheila E song.

3. See, “hawk Tuah girl,”

4. Before we get to far down that rabbit hole as to how unscientific it is, it had a low response rate. So low the Margin of Error was a pretty large, 20.5%.

5. Their pictures are at the top of this page.

6. So big, it was outside that large margin of error.