Famous Fifteens…
Maybe Warhol was close. Andy Warhol is famous for his statement that in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. He also tended to change his quote depending on the reporter that he was talking to. He also said, “In the future, 15 people will be famous,” and “Everyone will be famous in fifteen minutes.”
Instead, as trends go, it appears that we’re all famous with fifteen people.
I follow 106 people on Twitter, but I only follow about 15 of them as if they were really famous. The same goes for my 552 friends on Facebook, there are only about 15 of them that I basically watch everything that happens on their page.
I’d assume, then, that each of us probably have approximately 15 people that we consider famous in our circle of friends and acquaintances, and that we are probably one of those 15 people to a number of our friends.
I’ve heard of several churches that have 150-person membership “caps”. Once these churches reach 150 people, ten times the ordinary person’s “famous quotient”, then they start a new church. Too many people over 150, these churches claim, is just too many people to effectively minister to. Is there something about 15 multiplied 10 times?
I’m not saying there is anything magical about the number 15, but it does lead to some interesting questions.
Who are the fifteen people that influence you? Who are the fifteen people that change your mind about things or introduce new thoughts to you?
How many of those 15 people do you know personally?
If you had to guess, how many people do you think you’re a “famous 15” to?