Cross-posting a 2023 Hacker News thread:
Everyone has different perspectives and values, so what do you personally think is the most important problem in the world right now? Is it something that one, or a group of early enthusiasts, can work on?
The original quote is from Aaron Swartz:
Life is short (or so I’m told) so why waste it doing something dumb? It’s easy to start working on something because it’s convenient, but you should always be questioning yourself about it. Is there something more important you can work on? Why don’t you do that instead? Such questions are hard to face up to (eventually, if you follow this rule, you’ll have to ask yourself why you’re not working on the most important problem in the world) but each little step makes you more productive.
My focus is on trying to make the world a better place locally, on a tiny level. There is a lot wrong with the world and I can’t do anything about it on that overwhelmingly massive scale, but helping in whatever tiny way I can creates ripples that reach further than trying to fix EVERYTHING.
picking up litter in your local park, or just volunteering to trim the weeds in it, does make a big impact.
the problem is once you start doing that don’t hang around in the park looking for litterers who are trying to ‘ruin’ your good deeds.
i have notice in volunteer work there is a fine line between doing good, and then imposing your rules on everyone else and become massive asshole. this is why HOAs and such go so wrong. they usually start off with good-intentions but get warped into perverse controlling nonsense.
and if you volunteer and find out the people around you are weirdo assholes, just quit and do something else. i joined a community garden awhile back and left after 6 months because so many members were losers who were just shitting on everyone else’s plot for not being as nice as theirs or getting jealous that a plot 10 ft over ‘got more sun’. it was insane how petty and pathetic a lot of the long time gardeners were because they felt they were ‘owned’ the garden.
That is really a lovely thought and exactly what everyone should aim to do in my opinion. :) Thank you very much for trying to make a difference.