Remembering Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter"!

Originally Posted by Ankesh

Ah - thats definately true.

Because I do hold the mushy sounding notion that greatness lies in everyone.

In which case, the Power of the word is diluted and is as effective as declaring a person to be Human. As in, there goes Steve Irwin, a Human Being.

And also, if used for one person, we should thus use it for all people, all the time as well. And again, the Power of the word is diluted to virtual nothingness.

Michael Ross

Originally Posted by MichaelRoss

In which case, the Power of the word is diluted and is as effective as declaring a person to be Human. As in, there goes Steve Irwin, a Human Being.

And also, if used for one person, we should thus use it for all people, all the time as well. And again, the Power of the word is diluted to virtual nothingness.

Let us harken unto the definition of great (as applied to a person). Here's one I found:

"(used of persons) standing above others in character or attainment or reputation"

While one could argue about attainment or character regarding the person in question, certainly the reputation he achieved in his field places him in the "great" category. Or at least moderately "great" if such a thing is possible.

Not that it's important whether or not he or anyone else is remembered as a "great" man. I doubt very much that he cares about that at the moment.

Personally, I liked the man and I enjoyed his style. And for me, that pretty much expresses why I think of his death as a loss. He was just a guy, like the rest of us, true . . . but the fact is that he went out and achieved something in his life.

Regardless of one's opinion of Steve Irwin, his style, or what he did or did not accomplish, the man DID something with his life. That makes him "great" in my book!

[He could have spent his life watching TV and drinking beer . . . like millions of Joe Six-Packs . . . in which case, none of us would be talking about him, and likely very few, if any, would consider him a great man in any way.]

---- Hugh

Hugh,

Thanks for expressing your thoughts.

He DID something. THAT makes him great - if we use the shown definition of the word. In which case let me also add... his Doing resulted in a Creation... which would also make him worthy of rememberance. For it is a sad fact, the vast majority of people Never Do anything that amounts to much, create anything of value or importance, and certainly never add to the human knowledge pool. The vast majority add nothing to the human existence but additional beings.

In which case, Dien's PhD means he added to the human knowledge pool stuff that wasn't known before. As a result, he likewise would be a Great man, would he not?

Michael Ross

Originally Posted by MichaelRoss

In which case, Dien's PhD means he added to the human knowledge pool stuff that wasn't known before. As a result, he likewise would be a Great man, would he not?

Seems like greatness is relative . . . Einstein may have been a great man as a physicist, but lousy as a father (don't know that, just using it as a hypothetical). And certainly, one's concept of who is or is not great is a personal thing. Steve Irwin touched many people and turned off some. "Great" to some, a "jerk" to others. As I said, I liked him, his style and what he did with his life . . . so I can only say, again, he was great in my book. He was obviously great with animals . . . I remember seeing him calm down a nervous rattle snake to the point where the snake was comfortable with Steve holding on to its tail. The man could definitely get in touch with those "lesser beings". (And here, some would say he was a crazy fool for doing that . . . but to me, it was "Wow, this guy knows how to communicate with a wild snake and calm it down." It was actually an amazing thing to see, with Steve explaining what he was doing and how the snake was "feeling" as he calmed it down and became its friend.)

So, yes, I'd say Dien would fall somewhere in there on a scale of relative greatness. [Probably just a notch below Einstein : ) ] In any case, I think he's great for his contribution re this forum!

---- Hugh

Hugh,

Thanks for raising something valid.

Steve Irwin, a Great Showman.

Conclusion, Niche Greatness I can accept...

Gary Halbert, a Great Marketer

Bill Myers, a Great Product Developer

Etc.

Michael Ross

How many times have we heard the advice....

“Figure out what it is you love to do and figure out a way to get paid for it.”

Steve Irwin had a passion since his childhood and figured out how to take that passion and turn it into a multi-million dollar business.

At the same time, he didn’t let it go to his head because his other passions were being a great husband, a great father, and a great son. Unlike so many other celebrities, he stayed out of trouble and remained one of the good guys. The type of guy to respect and admire.

In my opinion, he was a GREAT man!

Anyone that has ever watched him on Letterman, Leno, Oprah, or any of the many talk shows he was on could see that. He was every bit as passionate about talking about his family as he was talking about crocks or snakes or anything else.

Personally, I learned a lot from the guy and so did my son. He filled us with knowledge and presented it in a way that made it really fun to learn about. I have much more respect for wildlife since watching Steve. Pretty much everything my 6 year old son knows about wildlife, he learned from Steve.

He was a great guy and he will be missed.

Jim

Jim - Perfectly said. Thanks.

For those interested in Steve Irwin...

AMERICAN news queen Barbara Walters has scored an exclusive TV interview with Terri and Bindi Irwin.

The one-hour special will be aired in the US next Wednesday (September 27) and should reap huge ratings for ABC as Irwin, through his Crocodile Hunter documentaries, was a much-loved TV star in America.

And I'm sure the special will be syndicated world wide through other television networks...

Walters to interview Terri, Bindi
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...2-1702,00.html

Phil