Heroes what they do why we need them is to use an overly clichd phrase a thought provoking essay on the nature of heroism more than once i found myself putting the book down and mulling over the points allison and goethals were making. Although the phrase why we need them is in the subtitle of our first heroes book weve never really offered a succinct list of the many reasons why heroes are so important to us here we aim to do just that hoping youll forgive us for offering up yet another top 10 list below weve assembled 10 major reasons why people need heroes. In heroes what they do and why we need them authors scott t allison and george r goethals offer a stimulating tour of the psychology of heroism shedding light on what heroism and villainy mean to most people and why heroes both real people and fictional characters are so vital to our lives. With so many heroes falling from grace in the past few years we suggested the possibility that we hold them to too high a standard we also offered some reasons why we might expect more virtuous behavior from heroes than we do from the average non hero. What qualities do we see in them what must they do to win our admiration in heroes scott t allison and george r goethals offer a stimulating tour of the psychology of heroism shedding light on what heroism and villainy mean to most people and why heroes both real people and fictional characters are so vital to our lives