How often do we dream about making the world a better place, how often do we dream about making a mark in the world? Little do we realize that the change we want to make is not for the world. We don’t ACTUALLY want to change anything. All we want is to make a mark, to find our name taking credits for something big, to be at the center of a revolution. The change is for ourselves. We’re programmed to be ambitious, not creative.
Ask yourself this simple question; Do you, as of this moment, have an idea which the world needs, which is absolutely necessary to implement, and which could make the world better than as it is today?
I want to stress on so many words in this question, but I’m not going to.
There might be few who truly had a ‘yes’ to my previous question. The other majority, including me, are the people who are running in their journey to find a peak from where they’ll be seen. To put a flag on the mountain so that people turn their heads and watch, and within the shadow of your work, they find you. If changing the world is just a play of an obsession to get recognition, how are revolutionaries any different than social media-addicted teenagers? We rename “attention” to “recognition” and expect to be a grown-up.
Let’s go back to the question one more time. Doesn’t “absolutely necessary to implement” seem a little out of place? Honestly, at this juncture in human evolution, there is nothing which we could say is “necessary” to the world. Everything that we want is well within our boundaries. There is no idea which would save humanity from some apocalypse that might be approaching. There is no danger, no extinction, no calamity about to come in the future.
I know many of you might disagree with the last line and that’s why I categorize ideas into 2 types:
- Survival Ideas
- Luxury Ideas
Most of the survival ideas have originated in the early eras of humanity. These are the ideas that I truly call revolutionary. Ideas like language, using fire, the many uses of water. Think about a lonely stone age man coming up with so many inventions. In the later stages of humanity, when civilization was set up, the scope for survival ideas started diminishing. Fewer ideas originated like electricity, or motor vehicle. Personally, I think it was logically acceptable to be able to come up with such ideas at that time. Society was progressing, everyone wanted more luxury; why not be able to reach a certain place quicker?
When the scope for survival ideas was almost negligible, luxury ideas came into the picture. Machines had made our life civilized, now they were about to make our life simpler. Computers for people were built by the Steve guys, and Gates opened Windows. It’s not like the absence of this would have destroyed the world, but still, these ideas changed it. Many would argue that these years were the most influential than any in history. Eventually, the world became computers. Facebook Marked another change and this is the one most of us would relate to. I have seen the simple life, and I have seen the social networking life. Somewhere between these years, some amazing term called “Artificial Intelligence” gradually unfolded itself. It’s amazing how we started by making machines that would make our work simpler, which we knew about; what they did, how they did it. And today, we not only make machines that can do stuff which we are unable to, but can also think about the things that we can’t.
You probably know all about these ideas, but go back to the question of “absolutely necessary to implement” and tell me which of these ideas fall into that phrase? Was Facebook necessary at the time of its inception? But if it wasn’t, what was?! We don’t need anything, and neither did we need anything 20 years ago. As society progresses, the things of luxury seem like a necessity. Imagining a world without Whatsapp and Instagram might seem impossible today, and it’s not just about being addicted anymore. Our life depends on it, quite literally. Looking back at the past, life without inventions often seems substandard, but people were always the same amount of happy as they are today.
So when I say “absolutely necessary to implement”, I mean the necessity from your point of view. Because for the world, nothing will ever be necessary today, but it will be 10 years later after it’s a hit. Your idea or invention should be necessary to the world. Remember, the world, not necessary to you.
All the inventions and ideas that have changed the course of progress of this world in a large way, aren’t always selfless. I’m not saying that Jobs, Gates, or Henry Ford are the new Christs of this world who you should devotionally follow. They have qualities; admire them, learn from them and move on. Because following them negates the entire point of this discussion. If you’re trying to copy a revolutionary, that means that you’re trying to be one. And that’s exactly who you don’t have to be! DO NOT TRY TO CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE SAKE OF YOURSELF. Will this harm the world? No. It’ll harm you. You live the glorious 60 years of your life for someone else, for your name to be carved in the etches of time, only to die after that. What then? Where are you when the whole world is celebrating the amazing work that you did? Living for recognition could be pointless. The happiness that you’ll receive at the ending years of your life looking at your hard-earned achievements is not greater than the smaller happy moments that you could get by short selfless deeds for people who are the world to you.
There are 2 ways to change the world; first, change the world, and second, change your world.
You probably came here with the objective of not “changing the world”, but with the objective of “being recognized”. And as I rightly promised, I am here telling you How to Change the World. Here’s the simple key: Be selfless, and change what you think can be better. It could be your cousin’s wardrobe, a child’s homework or a street dog’s home. You don’t need to build another Facebook to change the world, all you need is a loving smile :)
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