Heroes or scam artists

#里茲螞蟻批判性思考寫作專欄 #Alex專欄 #外師每週精選閱讀 

本週的外師專欄，大家記得點進文章，先讀完這篇新聞，再來看外師對這篇新聞的想法哦。

Heroes, prophets and idols – are these the makers and deliverers of our dreams, deliverances and fantasies? Many societies and even entire nations put people possessing of certain talents up on pedestals for everyone to revere; perhaps none more so than the sports stars of the world. Likewise, completely excessive and usually undue respect is often given to self-proclaimed holy men and women who make untested and unprovable claims of supernatural powers or divine guidance. Let’s not forget the celebrities of the world – those people often famous simply because more attention begets even more fame, especially in these times of instant social media sensations. Do they have some secret insights, exclusive knowledge or magical recipes that could make us instantly as talented/magical/wealthy as them and which we lowly humans could share in for a (usually not so small or infrequent) fee? Billions of people seem to think so, hence the ubiquity of celebrity endorsement, the perennial popularity of different faiths and pyramid schemes, and also Goop.

Alternatively, are these people actually rapscallions, hucksters and charlatans that sell falsehoods, promise chimeras and rip off every gullible, vulnerable citizen for what they are worth? As this article points out, America has more than its fair share of these con-artists. It could also explain the fakeness, cheapness and shallowness of the materialist culture that thrives there. It must certainly be the case that those as rich and famous as a multi-millionaire sportspeople, celebrities and actors like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow wouldn’t be deceiving us, and in fact we can actually become just like them if we buy their massively overpriced and overhyped products. Similarly, all those religious, spiritual and faith-based ministers, healers, prophets and monks must actually have proof of what they are preaching, and just by “donating” to their cause you too can share in eternal salvation. It’s either that or else many people constantly live with the wool pulled over their eyes.  
 
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/17/tom-brady-tb12-snake-oil-junk-science
 
===我是分隔線===
 
💡這個專欄目的是訓練同學聰明閱讀。
 
上面的貼文內容是我們的實力派外師Alex，針對每週一篇英文文章閱讀後，親自寫出的批判性思考文（不是copy & paste的東西啊）。旨在讓同學知道如何用不同的角度來讀文章。你可以選擇先讀Alex寫的批判文，也可以選擇先讀本次的英文文章連結，但最好兩處都要閱讀才能達到最好的效果。
 
這是個訓練批判性思考的好機會，希望同學不要被文字牽著鼻子走，在閱讀時可以多思考。大家可以善用這個寶貴的資源～
 
舊文連結：
https://www.leedsmayi.com/alex-column
 
Alex是我們的御用老師，每週都會幫梅姨、托托、慕華、金金上英文課。目前星期一晚上有開一班 #里茲螞蟻外師應用英文課程 ，程度高級，充滿知識性與深度。有開放單次付費上課。若你想學習用英文來深度探討各項主題，check it out！
 
Alex老師的應用英文課：
https://www.leedsmayi.com/applied-english.html