Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita that what great men do the common man will follow. So if we want actually to be successful we must convince the influential men of your country, then everything will follow automatically.

(Letter to Syamasundara, Calcutta, 22 September, 1970)

httpv://youtu.be/ZtLUb0fYPxQ
video: Devotee Doesn’t Want Anything – Lecture by Srila Prabhupada

Viewpoint: Did our brains evolve to foolishly follow celebrities?

By Jamie Tehrani | BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23046602
[…] But we still imitate what we can because our brains are programmed to associate prestige with adaptive behavior. And because fame is the primary cue of prestige, the more attention celebrities get, the more they attract.

It’s not surprising then, that fame has become an end in itself. Because in the modern world, it does not really matter what you are famous for.

Indeed, while celebrities today get more attention and prestige than at any other point in human history, we are frequently being told not to hold them up as role models.

But – seen from the evolutionary, anthropological perspective that I have sketched out – you may ask, what are celebrities for if they are not to be role models?

Why give them the benefits of our prestige, if it is not reciprocated with anything that might be of use to us?
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