Enhanced Heroism

Kern, Douglas. "Our Asterisked Heroes." The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. A New Atlantis, June 2004. Web. 23 January 2010.

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Has improved technology and genetic engineering experiments enhanced the world of sports, or completely eliminated the humanistic element of heroism that was key in its origin? In his feature article entitled “Our asterisked heroes,” Douglas Kern analyzes and discusses this preeminent question. Throughout the intriguing article, Kern explains the disturbing roles in which performance enhancing drugs and the twenty-first century’s cornucopia of medicine play on sports. According to the author, baseball’s pastime was solely based on individual talent and hard work and the success that was achieved from it. Instead of hard work, he states that today’s athletes and future athletes have the convenient option of using performance enhancing drugs and other medical practices to reach greatness. However, should modern-day greatness truly be compared with that of the legends? Should today’s achievements and ground-breaking records really be included with those of the all time legends? According to Kern, every athlete that took supplements at some point in their career should have an asterisk by any record that he/she breaks. By using the asterisk, every devoted fan can clearly see where these twenty first century imposters rank amongst the natural born greats. True heroism can easily be viewed by this technique and the legends can earn the respect they truly deserve.

After analyzing the article and dwelling on the topic, Douglas Kern’s overall purpose, message, and values are easily perceptible. The author is a clearly a devoted sports fan that enjoys viewing and commending feats of human excellence. He gives credit where credit is due and doesn’t mind discussing where it is not due. The author’s purpose and point of view are unquestionably important seeing that he is considering both the sport’s world and the entire world in his discussion. If today’s “heroes” significantly overpass yesterday’s greats, then they will simply be forgotten about and thrown under the bus. If in the near future a supplemented athlete hits two hundred homeruns in a single season, or someone uses the numerous twenty first century technology to develop the world’s fastest computer, no one will ever stop and wonder who did it first. Kern’s effective writing skills, detailed examples, and intriguing sub-titles assists in conveying the message to the reader to question where true heroism lies. True heroism is found in the greats of our pastime that achieved greatness first and based on the talent they were born with, and they deserve the respect they rightfully earned.