Oprah Winfrey speaks with Lance Armstrong during an interview on the controversy surrounding his cycling career on Monday, January 14, in Austin, Texas. Oprah Winfrey's exclusive no-holds-barred interview with Lance Armstrong, "Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive," has expanded to air as a two-night event on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. The interview airs Thursday, January 17, and Friday, January 18.
Editor's note: Zeno Franco is an assistant professor in the department of Family & Community Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He studies the social psychology of heroic action and disaster management and is a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Fellow. He is a research adviser for the Heroic Imagination Project, an organization that teaches people how to overcome the natural human tendency to watch and wait in moments of crisis.
(CNN) -- We have many heroes: historic figures who battled for freedom, a man who jumps on the railway tracks to save someone from certain death, a whistle-blower who identifies corruption in government or industry. While these forms of heroism focus on a willingness to take risks in the service of other people or noble ideals, the most ancient notion of heroism focuses on humanity's ability to transcend its own physical limitations.
Occasionally, there is a man or woman who appears to be almost superhuman in strength and physical ability. The Greeks had Achilles and Athena. Up until yesterday, we had Lance Armstrong.
It is unlikely that we will ever know the truth about Lance Armstrong's situation -- was it truly a heroic journey, battling his own body's limits to demonstrate the pinnacle of human capability -- despite the intense personal costs of competing in the Tour de France? Or was it a tainted attempt to win glory? And why can't it ever be simple -- why can't we have a hero who is beyond reproach?
As a researcher who focuses on heroic action and the ascription of heroic status, I know that heroism is rarely simple. In fact, in a paper that I authored with my colleagues Kathy Blau and Dr. Philip Zimbardo, we argued that heroism is fundamentally paradoxical.
First, the action of heroism is typically an intensely private and personal endeavor, even when these actions are taken under the glaring spotlight of the media; but the ascription of heroic status is a fundamentally public activity -- the personal actions taken by one individual are observed and interpreted by others, rightly or wrongly.
If we consider the possibility that Armstrong's 500-plus drug tests were negative as an indicator that he never doped, this is an incredible testament not just to his physical strength, but his moral fortitude. If this is the case, he was able to resist an ongoing temptation that occurred in private, after all the cameras where off and the fans had gone home.
This brings us to our second paradox. It is human nature to at once hunger for and elevate exemplars of heroism, while we simultaneously often want to negate the actual actions of a real hero. One of the implications of our research is that all forms of heroism result in some level of controversy; seeing someone run into a burning building to save another may look heroic to one bystander but foolish to another.
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A lot rides on the outcome. If a woman who goes into a building is successful in rescuing the trapped victim in the inferno, she is a hero. But if she fails, or she is injured, the risk she took is seen as having been too great, even though the actual risk calculus she took in the moment of action does not change.
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Moreover, someone willing to act heroically fundamentally challenges our own notions of ourselves. Heroes are, in some ways, subtly dangerous to our sense of social order. Even though they are human, just like the rest of us, their actions are outside of the normal human experience.
If there is a whistleblower in our office -- even if his or her motives are noble -- it is human nature to search for an alternative explanation. Maybe this person was really disgruntled at the boss. With Lance Armstrong, there is a natural tendency, perhaps in all of us, to say, "See, I told you so, no one could be that good."
The sad part of Armstrong's story -- of the titles being stripped away -- is that we lose either way. If he did dope, it is just another example in a recent string of high-profile heroic failures. Joe Paterno's career, built up over many years of good decisions, was washed away by an incident he should have acted on. The captain of the Costa Concordia's momentary lapse led to the deaths of 32 people; abandoning ship before his passengers led to his disgrace.
But if Armstrong didn't dope, it won't matter. The news cycles will have already done their work. There is doubt now, and that is often the beginning of the end of our willingness to attach the word "hero" to someone in our own minds.
We have lost a figure who was willing to challenge the limits of human performance, to show us what we are truly capable of if we put everything we have into accomplishing a seemingly insurmountable goal. Armstrong's story of setbacks and triumphs brought us closer to the essence of the human endeavor.
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While it is easy to say that one slip-up means someone can't be hero, it is also important for us to remember that negating all of this person's actions over a few mistakes also lets us off the hook. No hero is without flaws. None of us is. But if we allow ourselves the luxury of saying, "See, he's just like the rest of us," we no longer have to challenge ourselves to perform at the limits of our own personal capability.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Zeno Franco.
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Cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France wins and banned from the tournament for life, the International Cycling Union announced Monday, October 22. Pictured, Armstrong addresses participants at The Livestrong Challenge Ride on Sunday. He stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer charity on Wednesday, October 17.
Armstrong leads his teammates during the final stage of the 1999 Tour de France.
Armstrong, 17, competes in the Jeep Triathlon Grand Prix in 1988. He became a professional triathlete at age 16 and joined the U.S. National Cycling Team two years later.
In 1995, Armstrong wins the 18th stage of the Tour de France. He finished 36th overall and finished the race for the first time that year.
Armstrong rides for charity in May 1998 at the Ikon Ride for the Roses to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. He established the foundation to benefit cancer research after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996. After treatment, he was declared cancer-free in February 1997.
Armstrong takes his honor lap on the Champs-Élysées in Paris after winning the Tour de France for the first time in 1999.
After winning the 2000 Tour de France, Armstrong holds his son Luke on his shoulders.
Armstrong rides during the 18th stage of the 2001 Tour de France. He won the tour that year for the third consecutive time.
Armstrong celebrates winning the 10th stage of the Tour de France in 2001.
After winning the 2001 Tour de France, Armstrong presents President George W. Bush with a U.S. Postal Service yellow jersey and a replica of the bike he used to win the race.
Armstrong celebrates on the podium after winning the Tour de France by 61 seconds in 2003. It was his fifth consecutive win.
Jay Leno interviews Armstrong on "The Tonight Show" in 2003.
After his six consecutive Tour de France win in 2004, Armstrong attends a celebration in his honor in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
Armstrong arrives at the 2005 American Music Awards in Los Angeles with his then-fiancee Sheryl Crow. The couple never made it down the aisle, splitting up the following year.
Armstrong holds up a paper displaying the number seven at the start of the Tour de France in 2005. He went on to win his seventh consecutive victory.
As a cancer survivor, Armstrong testifies during a Senate hearing in 2008 on Capitol Hill. The hearing focused on finding a cure for cancer in the 21st century.
In 2009, Armstrong suffers a broken collarbone after falling during a race in Spain along with more than a dozen other riders.
Young Armstrong fans write messages on the ground using yellow chalk ahead of the 2009 Tour de France. He came in third place that year.
Armstrong launches the three-day Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in 2009 in Dublin, Ireland. The event was organized by his foundation.
In May 2010, Armstrong crashes during the Amgen Tour of California and is taken to the hospital. That same day, he denied allegations of doping made by former teammate Floyd Landis.
Ahead of what he said would be his last Tour de France, Armstrong gears up for the start of the race in 2010.
Lance Armstrong looks back as he rides in a breakaway during the 2010 Tour de France.
Armstrong finishes 23rd in the 2010 Tour de France. He announced his retirement from the world of professional cycling in February 2011. He said he wants to devote more time to his family and the fight against cancer.
Armstrong's son Luke; twin daughters, Isabelle and Grace; and 1-year-old son, Max, stand outside the Radioshack team bus on a rest day during the 2010 Tour de France.
The frame of Armstrong's bike is engraved with the names of his four children at the time and the Spanish word for five, "cinco." His fifth child, Olivia, was born in October 2010.
In February 2012, Armstrong competes in the 70.3 Ironman Triathlon in Panama City. He went on to claim two Half Ironman triathlon titles by June. He got back into the sport after retiring from professional cycling.
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