Are you having/will you have a net positive effect on humanity?

[Gaith]

Just about every learned person agrees that the Earth (by which I mean a vessel for the cultivation of human happiness, before anyone starts taking a geologic-scale view of things) will almost certainly face some very serious challenges in the coming decades/generations. From climate change to massively unprecedented population levels to food, water and energy scarcity, it generally seems that we've got too much of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right stuff - not enough to be sustainable, that is, and while new science and discoveries are sure to help, it just as surely won't be enough for everyone. And that's not even mentioning the more problematic aspects of human behavior, such as widespread indifference or even strategic exploitation of the misfortunes of others, warfare, and all those nuclear warheads that could still cause a whole lot of trouble.

Also, if you're reading this, chances are you're a resident of the "first world", and therefore a pretty massive consumer of non-renewable resources as well as a significant generator/user of fossil fuels.

So, a simple question: if you were struck down by a bolt of lightning this very day, would have had a net positive effect on the lot of the human race? Enough to offset all the resources invested in and consumed by you? And if not, do you ever hope to get yourself "in the black"? How long will it take; what are your plans? Are you even trying?

(As for moi: I'm only in my mid-20s, so at the moment, I don't at all think I'm having a net positive effect, though I at least haven't added to the human population, so there's that. And I've enlisted for an eight-year stint in the Navy, which I certainly hope will promote peace and goodwill amongst humans, and think it most likely will, but no promises, obviously. Beyond that, I definitely want to do some tangible, significant good for the species/planet before I pass, though I've got little idea as of yet just how I'll go about it. As a lifelong Trekkie, however, I know I'll have to give it a go at some point.)

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

So, a simple question: if you were struck down by a bolt of lightning this very day, would have had a net positive effect on the lot of the human race? Enough to offset all the resources invested in and consumed by you? And if not, do you ever hope to get yourself "in the black"? How long will it take; what are your plans? Are you even trying?

An interesting thread Gaith, I probably disagree with 80% of what you've written but not with your actual question of whether we will have a net positive effect. An excellent and interesting question to ponder on. I think even if how people work such a thing out in their lives differs wildly just having it in mind and choice is almost a radical way of existing.

As for myself my net positive attempts would be in the realm of human interactions, trying to live kindly and with compassion which sounds easy but as soon as you think that someone comes along that makes it quite difficult. In the realm of human relationships I wouldn't say I was in the black though, I'm not the most generous person as far as other people go, my makeup is more of a "don't suffer fools gladly" type.

 

[Kestra]

I'm a net negative on the environment and I have no plans to change that. Taketaketake! I'm fairly nice to other humans, however.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I'm a net negative on the environment and I have no plans to change that. Taketaketake! I'm fairly nice to other humans, however.

Well make sure they compost your corpse to make up a little for your badness.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I have definitely had a net positive effect on the planet, but I have no plans to be hit by lightning.

I have no kids, I work at home so I mostly only drive on weekends, I've spent my life helping others, both personally and professionally, I've saved at least one life, I've done my best to spread memes of compassion, intelligence, respect and creativity, and I create absolutely mind-boggling works of literature, poetry and art. Don't you wish you were me?

 

[CaptJack]

I am trying my damnedest to leave this world in a better condition than when I entered it, and hope that over the remaining 50-70 years of my life that such an outcome will occur. It is the core reason I am studying urban planning, though it seems increasingly naive of me to believe that I can have as much of an impact as I desire as the program goes on -- but it isn't impossible.

 

[Gaith]

This thread seems to have sputtered a bit coming out of the gate, but maybe it can be revived...

An interesting thread Gaith, I probably disagree with 80% of what you've written

Well, go on, Rear Admiral; don't just tease me like that; please elaborate...

As for myself my net positive attempts would be in the realm of human interactions, trying to live kindly and with compassion which sounds easy but as soon as you think that someone comes along that makes it quite difficult.

Aye. For obvious economic reasons, preserving or even restoring natural environments/resources is really only a viable option for a small number of those working in renewable energy or donations-fueled activism, which is why I tried (perhaps unsuccessfully) to frame the overall thread around whether or not you're doing good by humanity, rather than the global environment. A diplomat, for example, might not do anything for the environment directly, but if he helps a region achieve peace, and that region then grows the civic fortitude to protect its resources... There are many paths to serving humanity, I think, but I frankly doubt if many even do that.

For example, some buddies of mine were talking about going skydiving last weekend. Now there's a purely recreational activity that employs people, consumes buckets of valuable resources, and does just about nothing of meaningful value for anyone. I know I for one wouldn't be comfortable being employed in such an industry. So where does one draw the line?

One obvious conclusion/observation: the thread question is fundamentally linked to the question of our jobs and vocations. Maybe I should have called this What do you do for a living? Judgmental philosophical version.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Well, I certainly try my hardest to contribute. It's indeed a concern of mine that my life and my overall impact be beneficial to the people and the planet. I'm not good with self-esteem, so any measurement on my account will likely be more pessimistic than it should, but I do try. One of my biggest fears is that I'll be "wasted", that I won't be able to do the good I had potential to do. This is very much on my mind at present, because I'm nearing the end of my last year of university, and trying to find an outlet for my talents, my interests, my positive qualities. And as you suggest is also the case for you, Gaith, my sense of duty and service prevent many positions, occupations or roles from feeling comfortable.

It's frustrating in that getting into a position where I can actually be put to use to the full benefit of others and myself seems ridiculously overcomplicated. I don't know whether to keep ploughing through or to "drop out" (after I get the degree) and just do good where I can on a lower level. Either way, I'm afraid I'll be wasting my potential and so betraying others. It seems, sadly, that doing the best I could depends upon others as well as myself, and if they're not looking for what I have to offer, and I don't have any clear sense of where I want to go, we're not going to get me to where I could potentially do most good.

I mean (and please forgive the self-promotion), I'm intelligent, I'm hard-working, people always have positive responses at face-to-face meetings, I have a strong desire to be of use and to serve...why I am finding it so difficult to see a future? I'm not expecting people to come to me, but when I go to them and say "I'm here, how may I be of use?", surely they should be interested, given that I've demonstrated my intelligence, hard-work and desire to serve?

I'm sorry if this made little sense.

 

[Gaith]

No; it made tons of sense; thanks, cheers. ... Though it was a little short on detail. Where do you live/what'll your degree be?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

If I felt like you do Deranged Nasat (which I don't) I would put my energies into helping the developing world whether it was drilling wells in India or building career options for those sold into sex slavery in Thailand. That kind of thing. I'm much more about the grassroots human level than about what job uses more carbon fuel.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

No; it made tons of sense; thanks, cheers. ... Though it was a little short on detail. Where do you live/what'll your degree be?

UK. My degree is in (please don't roll your eyes, it was my best subject at school ), English Literature. Which actually has quite a wide range of possibilities attached (when earned from a top university at least), only, of course, no actual clear career path.

If I felt like you do Deranged Nasat (which I don't) I would put my energies into helping the developing world whether it was drilling wells in India or building career options for those sold into sex slavery in Thailand. That kind of thing. I'm much more about the grassroots human level than about what job uses more carbon fuel.

You're actually right along my line of thinking, teacake. I've been looking to do just that. The problem is...you need money, apparently. You need to pay your way. Few if any of the groups going out to these places will pay for you to go and work for them in low-level mundane jobs, while you train and learn and later take on more responsibilities (which I assumed they would do when faced with eager people willing to work and train and clearly intelligent enough to do it). They want you to pay...I can't. Yeah, I could get a job elsewhere, save up a few years, then go...but is it worth spending years saving up for a work experience you may not even enjoy or find worthwhile?

I'm already in debt due to the loans paying for these years of university - I need some gratification at some point; I'm afraid I'm not comfortable with spending half my life trying to climb a ladder to a point where maybe, eventually, I'll be useful and content. I've known nothing but education my whole life, delayed actually getting a job. I really feel the desire to get down to being useful now.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I am unequivocally the worst person who ever lived.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I am unequivocally the worst person who ever lived.

Are you also the worst person who will ever live? Because if so, we can be thankful for our children and grandchildren - the worst will be past for them.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I don't want to come across as an ungrateful little bastard here (because I've had more opportunities than a lot of people get), but I'm very concerned about this topic at present. I really want to get to work; sure, I've done voluntary stuff, but I've never actually had genuine (paid) work. That needs to change - I don't want another three-five years of loans and education. I have two concerns, really - to do work that is useful, that makes good use of my full promise, that will help me feel I'm doing my duty - and that it'll pay enough for me to live comfortably (I'm not high-maintainance ) and start paying off the debts.

I was hoping that there'd be humanitarian organizations that would take me on - they pay for me to go over with them and learn on the job, in exchange I earn my keep by working on the various tasks you don't need extensive training for, and generally be useful and industrious. I serve and learn and the payment is that which keeps me there to do such. But evidently my little sheltered dreamworld doesn't map onto reality. I'd have to pay my way in its entirety, which means I'd need money, which means I need to get a job elsewhere. And if so, wouldn't it make more sense to try and find something else immediately useful and suited to what I have to offer rather than spend years doing underqualified work to save up funds for something I might not even eventually stick with?

I think this is the problem - everything nowadays seems geared towards people with a clear aim in life, a "career path", an ambitious arrow through to where they want to be. Where I want to be is somewhere useful that doesn't suck. In other words, I don't have a clear aim, which is an outlook seemingly demonized in our system, hard work and willingness to do it aside. I have a general intelligence, not a specialist learning. I have a desire to serve and put my mind and my personal traits to productive use without any actual concrete idea of where or how. But everything is so rigid now; you need to know exactly what you want to do, then apply exactly to the right place having gained exactly this and that qualification and this number of years exactly here. I'm about to earn a degree that, given its university of origin, must signal that I'm intelligent (in a generalized sense) and hard-working and willing to accept a lot of deadlines, pressure, etc. But I'm now finding that actually, this degree really means very little, because unless I have a clear idea of exactly where I want to go and exactly what precise qualification I'll need to apply, I don't actually have a chance of getting anywhere remotely suited to my skills and intellect. Does that make sense?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

No; it made tons of sense; thanks, cheers. ... Though it was a little short on detail. Where do you live/what'll your degree be?

UK. My degree is in (please don't roll your eyes, it was my best subject at school ), English Literature. Which actually has quite a wide range of possibilities attached (when earned from a top university at least), only, of course, no actual clear career path.

If I felt like you do Deranged Nasat (which I don't) I would put my energies into helping the developing world whether it was drilling wells in India or building career options for those sold into sex slavery in Thailand. That kind of thing. I'm much more about the grassroots human level than about what job uses more carbon fuel.

You're actually right along my line of thinking, teacake. I've been looking to do just that. The problem is...you need money, apparently. You need to pay your way. Few if any of the groups going out to these places will pay for you to go and work for them in low-level mundane jobs, while you train and learn and later take on more responsibilities (which I assumed they would do when faced with eager people willing to work and train and clearly intelligent enough to do it). They want you to pay...I can't. Yeah, I could get a job elsewhere, save up a few years, then go...but is it worth spending years saving up for a work experience you may not even enjoy or find worthwhile?

Is there an equivalent of the Peace Corp that UK citizens can join? You need a degree to join the Peace Corp and they actually pay you to go somewhere and do stuff for a year or two. I had relatives that did that.

How are you at teaching? I believe it is fairly easy to get a job teaching in developing countries, once there you can connect to an organization doing development work as well.

 

[Gaith]

If I felt like you do Deranged Nasat (which I don't)

And why not, pray? He seems like a thoughtful, humane, stand-up guy to moi.

I'm already in debt due to the loans paying for these years of university - I need some gratification at some point; I'm afraid I'm not comfortable with spending half my life trying to climb a ladder to a point where maybe, eventually, I'll be useful and content. I've known nothing but education my whole life, delayed actually getting a job. I really feel the desire to get down to being useful now.

I know exactly how you feel; I was there last summer, having graduated from uni a year previously, and done six months of fairly useless (and totally non-gratifying) substituting work. I considered teaching school; the country needs good teachers. I considered film school, but the country hardly needs more filmmakers. I considered law school, but only briefly and vaguely, for obvious reasons. Peace Corps was out; I didn't want to be the only Yank for miles and miles around. A good high school friend of mine was doing something similar, teaching English in China for virtually no pay, but the same objection applied. So, I finally decided upon a military stint, and got me a linguistics desk job there, where I'll definitely have/get to use this noggin my folks and schools have poured so many resources into. Hooyah! As for helping humanity, well, I figure worst case, I'll have some savings with which to do that once I'm out.

I don't want to come across as an ungrateful little bastard here (because I've had more opportunities than a lot of people get), but I'm very concerned about this topic at present. I really want to get to work; sure, I've done voluntary stuff, but I've never actually had genuine (paid) work. That needs to change - I don't want another three-five years of loans and education.

Your attitude, IMHO, is only the least unreasonable one in the world. Yes, there are volunteering opportunities, some of which provide room and board (which, in many developing countries, of course ain't much), but our first-world, high-cost education systems aren't geared towards sending us into that kind of work, debts- and sociability-wise and a lot of it is darned menial. I think there are lots of us all facing the same issue. Don't suppose you'd be interested in a bit of military service yourself?

 

[ancientone51]

Carbon footprint wise...not so much, not too bad, except I let my grass grow a bit before I mow.

But I've been a teacher for 24 years, so people wise...very much.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

If I felt like you do Deranged Nasat (which I don't)

And why not, pray? He seems like a thoughtful, humane, stand-up guy to moi.

Of course he is. I just don't happen to share his feelings of needing to do good with my life, my life is quite full and I have no feelings of concern over not contributing to the future. We are at different life stages and our make up is no doubt quite different as well. Saying I don't feel like DN isn't a judgment about DN's feelings, it's just context to my comments.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I am unequivocally the worst person who ever lived.

Are you also the worst person who will ever live? Because if so, we can be thankful for our children and grandchildren - the worst will be past for them.

I can't predict the future, but... yes. Absolutely. There shall be none worse than me.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I am unequivocally the worst person who ever lived.

Are you also the worst person who will ever live? Because if so, we can be thankful for our children and grandchildren - the worst will be past for them.

I can't predict the future, but... yes. Absolutely. There shall be none worse than me.

And yet, you're a moderator.

Power, eh.