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.
I mostly agree with you except that I believe we can change other people. Maybe we can’t change a specific person, but I think (or at least I would love to believe) that we can influence people we interact with, in big and small ways.