Education and creeping nihilism

[Burt]

Over the last decade, I graduated high school, earned a bachelor's, earned a master's, and worked various jobs. I became an entirely different person in regards to religion, politics, personality, everything. I went into my career to make a difference (working with wildlife), and I still aim to, but....

 

...I know I won't make a difference. There is too much inertia, and if there is a buck to be had no one is going to listen to biologists/ecologists/etc. I just spent two years studying a reclusive bird that 99.9% of Americans have never seen. Across the United States, I would estimate that less than 7,000 living people have seen this species, and that's being generous. It's probably endangered, but is so secretive no one even knows for sure (that's where I came in). I am all finished up, and it looks good.

 

For now. We have established a framework to preserve habitat for this species in one state. But....it isn't going to make it that long, really. Climate change is happening, and it's going to get worse. It's coastal habitat is going to be flooded. We aren't stopping climate change, and it may be too late anyways. Longer term, the United States isn't going to last forever. I won't make any absurd predictions on that, but I don't see us matching the Romans' longevity. Even beyond that, eventually a cataclysmic event like a super volcano, ice age, etc. is going to happen.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Tying back to the title, I think the more I learn the less I think humanity is going to get a grip on itself. I've always thought, "Sure, I can't stop any of it, but at least I can look back and say I did my best". That's still enough, but I worry about the day when it won't be.

 

Do you all deal with this? Is it hard for you all to care at times/ever?

[Guest El Chalupacabra]

The only thing I have come to know is this "one person can make a difference" idea is crap. Unless you are either independently wealthy, or have the right backers, most peoples' efforts end up like a fart in the wind.

 

The ONLY control you have in this world is over your own life, and even then, such control is dubious and is caveoted and qualified to f*cking death.

[RamonAtila]

I say, don't be scared to adapt. Old structures crumble, you gotta put up new ones. It may be intimidating because they may not look anything like the old structures. If you miss the way things were, you'll always have nostalgia, memories.. speaking of the Roman Empire look at how the Coliseum still stands today. We always know the Empire was there, plus we got to go through cool Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But the Coliseum is always there!

You buy a new computer, you can important old files from your last computer and put it on your new one. And put up new files...on your new computer! Import old files and you can look at it as making an upgrade in life.

I'm sure in frontier days the American continent was intimidating. Pioneers probably found it daunting that they had to create a whole new world with a new culture when their old world was already established with so much history. But look, now Americana, although young, sweeps people up in nostalgia. The Gold Rush, The Apollo Moon Landing. Those were about the new, about starting from scratch, but now they already live in history that is treasured and valued and wont be forgotten.

One person can't make a difference? Maybe you should join some cause? Document your participation in this cause because you might not feel like you're making a difference but someone might read about your participation and truly believe you did! You don't know what your participation today is need for by others in the future!

[monkeygirl]

oh, yeah. I've always wanted to get a partial lobotomy so I don't think so much-just a little shave off the top. If you follow most anything to a natural conclusion, you could drive yourself nuts.

 

But I've come to think that although one person alone can't make a huge, significant change, one person can certainly turn a tide.

 

Ford's first viable auto wasn't the same car we see today-changes, upgrades, other people making their own cars-all this coalesced and Ford himself is credited with a monumental change, even though he was just a catalyst, really.

 

I'm reminded of things like this whenever I see something on TV that was made decades ago about the future. Some nail things that have come to be but others fail because not everything can be predicted. It's the small things that sometimes initiate the most significant change, even if we don't see it right away.

[Pong Messiah]

Individuals can make a difference. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves.

[Evolence]

Pro "individuals can make a difference": Tank guy in Tiananmen Square. One man's non-violent act of protest stops a battalion of tanks and is broadcast worldwide.

 

Con "individuals can make a difference": Tank guy in Tiananmen Square. It really didn't matter. China is still pseudo-Communist, the tanks eventually got to where they were going, nobody ever learned the name of Tank Guy, and today most young citizens of China don't even know about Tiananment Square due to censorship. So while noble, he accomplished nothing in the end.

 

On the topic of nihilism, this is something I absolutely struggle with. I don't believe there is any intrinsic meaning to life or to self. The meaning of life is to simply live and die-- and it really doesn't matter if you do those two things quickly or slowly. If you fuck a bunch of people up, maybe karma will eventually get you, but it doesn't really matter. If you're kind to a bunch of people, it really doesn't matter. Everybody dies in the end, and to think that your pointless little slice of existence really amounts to anything in the grand scheme of things, you are very naive.

 

To your question of "why do I bother," the answer is simple. It doesn't really matter if what you do is particularly meaningful or not. Presumably it pays the bills, and presumably it is something that you tolerate (and perhaps even enjoy). That is infinitely better than begrudging through something you hate. While life is still ultimately meaningless, assuming that you opt to keep living it as opposed to dying early, one might as well live with a bit of hedonism.

[NumberSix]

Do you all deal with this? Is it hard for you all to care at times/ever?

I've found it's less intimidating, more manageable, less dispiriting, and more productive to approach life on smaller scales at the start. See what I can do with, to, or for my immediate spheres of influence. See how far I can push the ripples into spreading. Let the "long game" worry about itself until and unless the opportunity arrives, if ever.

 

Not all of us are meant to change the planet or even an entire country, but there's still plenty we can do with the world around us.

 

And in general, the less I focus on "What's in it for ME?", and the less I think about quote-unquote "happiness", the more content I am with where I'm at and where I hope to be heading.

[Ryn]

The only thing I have come to know is this "one person can make a difference" idea is crap. Unless you are either independently wealthy, or have the right backers, most peoples' efforts end up like a fart in the wind.

This is why I like the starfish story. (That, and "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink; you can lead a man to knowledge but you can't make him think.") I've realized I can only really improve myself and share by example. fuck the rest if they're not onboard.

[Ms. Spam]

Since I work in education and don't want to ruin my day off I have been avoiding this topic. I will let you guys know we had open house this week and only twelve parents showed up. I have 22 kids in homeroom.

[RelentlessMalice]

Been there done that Spam. It can be very sad,until you get that letter,email or comment from a student or two who say "thank you for actually teaching me something and caring about me."

 

That is when you know you have made a difference.

[Ms. Spam]

I already quit once and tried something different. The kids and actual teaching I love. The administrative bs I hate. I am now actually sticking with it for the pension. It is endgame for me!

[Burt]

Individuals can make a difference. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves.

I don't feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the bird.

[Destiny Skywalker]

Since I work in education and don't want to ruin my day off I have been avoiding this topic. I will let you guys know we had open house this week and only twelve parents showed up. I have 22 kids in homeroom.

My parents never came to parent-teacher conferences, open house, or Saturday soccer games or bowling league. Why? They were small business owners and had to work evenings and weekends a lot. But they cared. I think it helped that I did well in school and the teachers knew my mom was disabled.

[Ms. Spam]

Yeah, most of my kids parents are below poverty level and work multiple jobs. I realize this but it can be kind of disheartening. I had two kids who were dying to have their parents see what they do during the day. Our school got some updates over the summer and looks great. I just want to keep school enthusiasm going strong while they're young.

[Pong Messiah]

 

Individuals can make a difference. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves.

I don't feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the bird.

 

Stop feeling sorry for the bird. It made its nest.

[Copper]

Over the last decade, I graduated high school, earned a bachelor's, earned a master's, and worked various jobs. I became an entirely different person in regards to religion, politics, personality, everything. I went into my career to make a difference (working with wildlife), and I still aim to, but....

 

...I know I won't make a difference. There is too much inertia, and if there is a buck to be had no one is going to listen to biologists/ecologists/etc. I just spent two years studying a reclusive bird that 99.9% of Americans have never seen. Across the United States, I would estimate that less than 7,000 living people have seen this species, and that's being generous. It's probably endangered, but is so secretive no one even knows for sure (that's where I came in). I am all finished up, and it looks good.

 

For now. We have established a framework to preserve habitat for this species in one state. But....it isn't going to make it that long, really. Climate change is happening, and it's going to get worse. It's coastal habitat is going to be flooded. We aren't stopping climate change, and it may be too late anyways. Longer term, the United States isn't going to last forever. I won't make any absurd predictions on that, but I don't see us matching the Romans' longevity. Even beyond that, eventually a cataclysmic event like a super volcano, ice age, etc. is going to happen.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Tying back to the title, I think the more I learn the less I think humanity is going to get a grip on itself. I've always thought, "Sure, I can't stop any of it, but at least I can look back and say I did my best". That's still enough, but I worry about the day when it won't be.

 

Do you all deal with this? Is it hard for you all to care at times/ever?

I work as a park ranger and I constantly battle with the administration to actually Do the Right Thing rather than the cheap and easy thing. We have a gun range (!!!!) on our property, and the fifty year lease is up. We have data that the lead from the bullets is making its way down through seasonal runoff/drainages and into the lake... a lake that people fish in, that a nesting pair of bald eagles fishes from etc. The lead content are much higher than is legally allowable. Completely discounting the fact that the noise pollution alone from the gun range is reason enough to shut it down, the park district I work for seems to be leaning in the direction of continuing the gun range lease simply because environmental laws in the state are clear that if they shut it down, clean up has to begin immediately. And clean up would be so expensive, we're talking millions of dollars. Myself and several other people in strategic positions within (and outside of) the park district are trying to get it shut down, but we're pretty sure it won't be. It's disheartening, but we have to try.

[Ryn]

Crap I didn't save an email article that showed lead exposure and IQ levels. But I recall the exposure only had to be minimal to cause a significant drop.

[The Human Torch]

Platitudes are funny things, but...

 

I operate under the assumption I can only control me. I then hope I'm doing well in whatever I am doing so that I can be a good example for whoever is observing.

 

Basically I work within the "you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket" mindset. That and the classic Captain Kirk speech of, "We can admit We're killers, but We're not going to kill today." You have to be active. You have to be the change you want in the world.

 

I don't know if the recycling I participate in is making a difference, but there definitely will not be a difference for the better if I don't participate. I know that voting Libertarian in present day Alaska, and maybe elsewhere, is probably like abstaining but not voting is a forfeiture.

 

What my life's work may say won't ever be for me to hear. I can only do what I must as I can. It's not called a never-ending battle for nothing.

[Burt]

Crap I didn't save an email article that showed lead exposure and IQ levels. But I recall the exposure only had to be minimal to cause a significant drop.

Picher, OK, lost a generation or two of kids to lead poisoning.

 

That's disheartening, Copper, but it's not surprising either. I realize more and more how much of policies are driven by funding/money. Nobody wants to rock the boat.

[ShadowDog]

One person CAN make a difference in creative fields. The right book/movie/song at the right time can make a huge difference.

 

Of course you have to be awesome and lucky but it can happen.

 

To paraphrase my favorite saying:

 

"Do you believe one person can make a difference?"

 

"No. Seen it, though."

[Mitth'raw'nuroudo]

I deal with this on a near daily basis as I troll social media, explaining over and over to people that their entire zeitgeist is built on lies because they take FOX Newbs seriously. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is how it works. A handful of people who actually "get it" hold fast and spread the word, and out of every 10 people who bite and engage you in conversation, maybe one or two will go away a little more enlightened, and of every ten people who wake up a few will start spreading the word on their own, and if they really do get it then they'll start enlightening other people. It would be all the slower without the open internet. Social media means the memetic process of getting an idea accepted by the mainstream can take months instead of years, and popular support can be drummed up in years instead of decades. Just look at Citizens United. Without the massive information campaigns made possible by Twitter and Facebook, It would probably be 2025(assuming mankind was still alive) before a bill repealing it reached the House.

[Odine]

None of that means that it has any effect however, and the futility remains. In the grand scheme of things it all matters absolute dick. Sure you can influence individuals here and there but the point remains. Tom Waits said something along the lines of "we have knowledge confused with information, and quality confused with quantity.." And he trails off into something more depressing about the illusion of enlightenment the internet and social media has brought. EVO is right. The only thing you can do is invent your own narrative or subscribe to someone else's.

[pavonis]

The entire Universe is going to end one day; why bother getting out of bed when the whole thing will end in either a Big Freeze or a Big Crunch?

[Pong Messiah]

I'm going back to bed. It's warm.

[Evolence]

Pavonis, that is precisely why I work from bed every day. Showering, eating, and leaving the house is just not worth it when I know that the Universe will eventually reach close to absolute zero (not as much solid evidence to suggest a crunch).