When you read about famous people and the remarkable contribution they have made to the world of science, art and literature it can be easy to become despondent about your own life and what you are contributing. There is very little celebration of the ordinary person in the media. All we hear about is the extraordinary, which makes sense they are interesting people.
But thinking about it recently I was pondering the huge advancements in our society and the remarkable way that such a large number of people can live together in relative peace and harmony, at least in the major developed nations.
Those few individuals making breakthroughs in science and technology are advancing the window forward and making our lives ever easier and more fun, ipods, the Internet, medicine and so on. It is the very nature of the advancement of this knowledge that means each of us plays just a tiny part in the whole machinery of our society. If you didn't have someone collecting the garbage, building the house, delivering the mail and so on to the luminaries of our society they would be so busy just living their lives, providing for their own food and shelter that they wouldn't be a luminary discovering the nature of the universe, just another tribe member.
By specialising and doing just a little thing very well each of us contributes our own best knowledge and skills to the whole good of society. Each of us plays a part in the latest breakthrough for a malaria vaccine or cancer treatment. Just by being an accounts clerk at the local factory you provide your little bit to the whole good.
For each person designing a microchip you need many many thousands developing the applications that run on it to meet the myriad of needs for computing. For every one developing a basic new breakthrough in microbiology you need many millions of nurses to deliver that therapy and care for the patients.
Actually this society is a wonderful thing and each person's little tiny part in it is intrinsic to it's movement forward to a better world.
Posts
