What have you contributed to the world?

[Destiny]

The question spurted out of my mouth some weeks ago in college, seemingly of its own accord. It got me interested, though I really can't think of anything positive (or negative) that I have contributed to the world. The closest thing I can get to a decent answer is my archive of numa maps, and i'm pretty sure those don't count. So yeah, i'm a total failure.

What about you, though? Have you made a significant impact on the world? Even if it's a minor thing that only counts through the butterfly effect, it's still something. Share.

[Tanner]

Biomass.

[scythe]

Fertilizer.

Also a small amount of open-source code.

[smartalco]

I once picked up a piece of trash on a sidewalk and threw it away.

[heatwave]

I'm a Vegan.
o.o

[T3chno]

I told people not to go to Cuatro-Chan.

[Vyacheslav]

I was on an anti-bullying club in high school.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Sorry, hold on a sec here... why is it, exactly, that I owe the world something, again?
I owe my friends and my siblings for humor and happiness, my parents immensely for my education and health, and my country for lavishing me with opportunities for wealth and personal growth. I am thankful to all of them; I intend to treat them in kind until the day that I die, because it makes me happy to do so.
But the rest of humanity and I are merely acquaintances.

[29403]

Laugther.

[ChrisE]

I taught German kids english. Maybe one day we will speak to each other.

[a happy song]

I constantly call people out for being little bitches. I like it when the sentiment is returned in kind.

Aside from that, I'm with Suki on this one.

[bobaganuesh_2]

I'm currently fundraising for a memorial for a student teacher at my school who died last summer.

[otters]

spurted out of my mouth

I've annoyed a lot of people and damaged my parents' car. Also I think I've made some good food before.

[Tunco]

I try to ride bicycle whenever I can.

[Destiny]

I guess if we're going down that road then i... err... refused to take driving lessons because they're far too expensive (though I could addord them). Which means that I haven't been contributing to global warming via car for the past 8 months when i could have been.

[Aldaric]

Sorry, hold on a sec here... why is it, exactly, that I owe the world something, again?
I owe my friends and my siblings for humor and happiness, my parents immensely for my education and health, and my country for lavishing me with opportunities for wealth and personal growth. I am thankful to all of them; I intend to treat them in kind until the day that I die, because it makes me happy to do so.
But the rest of humanity and I are merely acquaintances.

Well Suki, perhaps with a little bit of perspective and appreciation you could answer your own question. It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?" Some people come to the realization that they are privileged in comparison with some of the people in the world, and further more decide to help people they do not even know out of appreciation for the luck they have had. I am sure there are people who are better in every way than me, but will have less success than me because fate did not deal them a nice hand. In Chile, there was an earthquake, and millions of lives were worsened, they had no power over what happened. My life was not affected, and I decided to volunteer the entirety of my last week of summer to help collect and send them food and water. I did this because I enjoyed doing it. Some people enjoying helping because they appreciate what they have, and it makes them happy to spread happiness. If you do not like contributing or helping, that is fine, but you have to stop thinking that your are the only opinion that counts. Use perspective to see, that people like contributing and helping the world, just as you are happy to only help the few you care about. Just because you don't want to contribute, does not mean others do not.

[Spawn of Yanni]

Sorry, hold on a sec here... why is it, exactly, that I owe the world something, again?
I owe my friends and my siblings for humor and happiness, my parents immensely for my education and health, and my country for lavishing me with opportunities for wealth and personal growth. I am thankful to all of them; I intend to treat them in kind until the day that I die, because it makes me happy to do so.
But the rest of humanity and I are merely acquaintances.

Well Suki, perhaps with a little bit of perspective and appreciation you could answer your own question. It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?" Some people come to the realization that they are privileged in comparison with some of the people in the world, and further more decide to help people they do not even know out of appreciation for the luck they have had. I am sure there are people who are better in every way than me, but will have less success than me because fate did not deal them a nice hand. In Chile, there was an earthquake, and millions of lives were worsened, they had no power over what happened. My life was not affected, and I decided to volunteer the entirety of my last week of summer to help collect and send them food and water. I did this because I enjoyed doing it. Some people enjoying helping because they appreciate what they have, and it makes them happy to spread happiness. If you do not like contributing or helping, that is fine, but you have to stop thinking that your are the only opinion that counts. Use perspective to see, that people like contributing and helping the world, just as you are happy to only help the few you care about. Just because you don't want to contribute, does not mean others do not.

One issue though, Kennedy, is that he never implied that no one should do anything for anybody.

[yungerkid]

It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?"

Why? There will always be poor people. Capitalism is based on the idea that if everyone works for their own good reasonably, the community will stand to profit from it. I realize poor people cannot help themselves, and that they have just as much potential as we have, but we can't always be focused on raising the weakest links to par just because it gives us fuzzy moral good feelings. I have Malthus in mind when I say that we will not always be able to help the poor, and that perhaps such aid would not be for the overall good.

I haven't contributed anything to the world that the world would regard as significant, but I could care less about the world's standards. I'm happy, I'm doing fine, I'm chugging along, I'm headed somewhere for myself. I don't really mind "contributing" or "giving back"; in my eye, none of that matters.

[ADMINISTRATOR]

We alone, as individuals, are probably not going to make any meaningful impacts on this world, but people as a whole could make a significant impact. If anyone has seen the movie Vendetta you'll know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, first humanity has to gets a grip of itself, and stops its blind march towards Armageddon.

So Destiny, to answer your question, I personally accept that I haven’t (and probably never will) make an impact on this world. I’d say my greatest contribution to this insane world will be in leaving it.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?"

I agree with yungerkid on this -- why is it that I should think like this? You've just answered a "why" with another random declaration that I ought to be doing something.

The closest thing I found to a reason for this suggestion was...

Some people enjoying helping because they appreciate what they have, and it makes them happy to spread happiness... Just because you don't want to contribute, does not mean others do not.

...and that's really not much of a reason as it is some trivia about humanity.
I mean, heck, I give to the homeless every now and again, as well as charities (like that "text HAITI to [number] to give $5" dealie). I also happen to be a very generous tipper. Doing these things make me happy, but I don't feel that I owe any of these things to society. I do these things because I'm generous, not because I feel or have some kind of obligation to the rest of humanity. You've just told me that I have such an obligation, and I'm still not seeing any reasons to support that accusation.

[Aldaric]

Nobody is going to come knocking at your door and force you to donate. The only reason to donate is that you want to do it. YOU would be the reason that you want to contribute to the world, so if you don't want to, you don't have a reason. If you ask, "Why would anyone want to?" the answer would be - Some people are happy doing it. They have fun doing it.

[otters~1]

Absolutely nothing, like most everyone else, but give me time, Metanet, and you will see.

[t̷s͢uk̕a͡t͜ư]

Nobody is going to come knocking at your door and force you to donate. The only reason to donate is that you want to do it. YOU would be the reason that you want to contribute to the world, so if you don't want to, you don't have a reason. If you ask, "Why would anyone want to?" the answer would be - Some people are happy doing it. They have fun doing it.

Way to not at all address the question.

[Universezero]

Related: Pay It Forward
Great movie.

As for what I've done? Uh, I guess donations. We sometimes do charity things at school. Apart from that, I'm going to have to go with Tanner.

It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?"

I agree with yungerkid on this -- why is it that I should think like this?

You should think like this because the world will be better if we think like that; that's a scientific fact. Answer that with your precious logic.

[otters~1]

It might sound cliche, but you should not ask, "What has the world done for me?" but rather, "What can I do for it?"

I agree with yungerkid on this -- why is it that I should think like this?

You should think like this because the world will be better if we think like that; that's a scientific fact. Answer that with your precious logic.

Ahahahaha. The world will be "better" -- it's a "scientific fact." Suck that, Tsukatu.

Anyway, someone posted the following on formica's The Crazy Miner:

IfI had made this level
And were to die the instant I finish this comment
I could finish it quickly;easily
Knowing I had made my mark on the world.