Life Long Imprint

I had a discussion with a friend outside of this site about how I see individual imprints made compared to the effect a group has on the world and in the long term all life. I came to the conclusion that it's comparable to a family whose tradition is to always place a hand against this one rock. Every generation one person spends every single day pressing a hand against the same spot on the same rock until he passes on the tradition to another generation. The idea being one generation wont see much of an impact on the rock but after maybe 5 or 10 generations those collective imprints will start to make a dent on the surface of the rock ... and because of the many different hands used .. the imprint will have an odd combination of all their hand prints embedded onto its surface(with the newer ones being clearer of course). Now My question is what do you think about this .. simile (I believe it would be). And do you have a better way to describe the impact you feel you make on the world around you. ^^ Serious answers would be appreciated but any answer will be read (within reason). Thank you for your time.

Humans are individuals and humanity is a collective. Individuals change the world through large actions. Collectives change the world through small repetitions. I think your story there is a beautiful representation of this. As someone who has always had an interest in sociology and anthropology, I think the easiest way to change the world is to change the way a society thinks. And therefore as an individual with small scale influence, I can only change the world when I can reach out to people on an individual basis and get them to understand why a certain way of acting is destructive or counter productive. I feel that an individual has a certain responsibility to humanity to seek wisdom and understanding. We need to hold ourselves accountable for what we pass to others after all. What is society other than a collection of all the echoes that individuals make? And of course society evolves and grows, just as people do. People for example have beliefs they are brought up with in childhood, and if they need to change a belief to suit them as they grow and learn, then they innovate. The beliefs that still serve them are preserved in the form of traditions. Generational thinking follows suit. What still serves humanity is preserved in tradition, and when we no longer need certain traditions, we innovate. Thank you, Dartinin, this was an interesting topic to mull over.

I think I see what you're getting at. I'm really not sure what kind of impact I'll make. When I was teaching I can think maybe I inspired a few kids to keep studying English, which is something they'll carry for the rest of their lives, so I made a few small ripples. I doubt what I do will affect people beyond that though. The biggest changes in societies tend to come from singular people (not necessarily good ones) who have big personalities, big ideas or great strength of character. It's true that people are like sheep, so if one dominant person stands up then they can manipulate those weaker 'sheep' to follow them, and the herd mentality means that it will take another dominant force to contest that. Really it's the dominant people who leave their mark on the world. Most people make no difference to the bigger picture, just a few small pigments in their small section of the canvas.

Well, yeah. Influence does spark dramatic change. People of influence make louder actions than people of more isolated circles. But ultimately the people who change the world are the people who are in either the best or the only position to do so. And heck, many of those small pigments on the canvas you reference can change the world in profound ways. Does anyone remember the name of the guy who invented the crossbow? No. But there's a weapon that started in one corner of the world, traveled elsewhere, was further innovated by someone who probably had aspy tendencies, and changed several dynamics of warfare. That's how an echo changes the world. It starts of small, it travels, and it evolves. Maybe it is dropped in favor of something more effective, but it still played a hand in inspiring something new. Another, more dramatic example, James Harrison. A man who felt inspired to donate blood through out his life, after being saved himself from a blood transfusion involving 13 units of blood donated by random strangers. He of course belonged to a blood group called RH. And there is a known problem in that blood group that occurs when say, a woman with RH- and a man with RH+ conceive a child. Rhesus disease. Where in the process of the birth, the mother is exposed to the fetus's blood. This causes the development of antibodies, which will affect the health of subsequent RH+ Pregnancies. In mild cases, this will have the child be born with Anaemia or Reticulocytosis. Buuut in less mild cases... Yeah, you guessed it, brain damage and miscarriages. The amount of infants who died per year because of this was in the thousands. Now lets return to James Harrison. His blood turned out to be quite special. It carried a unique and very rare antibody, which was then used to create an injection called NDD, which prevents RH disease. As a result, that random Australian guy (with a frankly very generic sounding name) saved an estimation of 2 million infant lives. (And still counting.) That's not to say it was him alone though. What of the biologists who created the injection? What of the person who discovered the antibodies in his blood to begin with? Who distributed it all throughout the world? Dunno, but I for one am thankful for all the involved parties. For you see, my two friends just had a child. And without Harrison or any of those men and women whom I'm too lazy to look up, I wouldn't be woken up every night I spent there two weeks ago with tiny fingers trying to pick my nose, or the loud crying, or... Gah, as much as babies annoy the hell out of me, the Leo is like a nephew of mine. So you see, its not only the most influential people who change this world. And meaningful or not, we're always changing the world for those around us. One repetition at a time.

I don't think any human being has any obligations to humanity AT ALL. It all depends upon the person, and their choices in life, that define who they are. Any singular individual can be bent and broken to do as a person commands, in the right situations. As such, there's no need for a collective, and personally, your words and actions determine your imprint. In fact, as of late the concept of a collective serves as a hindrance to humanity. You could say humanity has matured to full adulthood as a species. Saving a person from suicidal thoughts, giving trust and faith in a person to make their lives better when everyone else would abandon said person, things like that have more imprint. The collective exists to serve the individual, not the other way around. Those who cannot do, must inevitably serve the rare few who can do. It has nothing to do with collectivism or even individualism, but rather emotions and sentiments. I have been given trust and faith, when I was once at rock bottom, an have given the same kindness. It has both saved my own life and relative sanity, and have enabled me to make friends on a very close level. My best mate and I became friends because we had roomed together when he was in rock bottom. Everyone had abandoned him, no one who loved or cared for him were willing to try. Yet he recognized through me, his desire to better his life. I was the first to reach out to him, and gave him trust and faith. As such, he is on wonderful speaking terms with the mass majority of his family now, is getting another job that is making him feel happy. However, there was a point in there where things got bad for him. He had attempted to commit suicide through OD, and almost died. He flatlined a couple times before willing himself back to life. For a while, he would drink alcohol to overcome the emotional issues involving his suicide. I was there for him during those times too. He would eventually regain himself and build himself back up. Now, he's about to get a job he wanted. It wouldn't have happened without my involvement. The power of emotions and sentiment have decreed the destiny of this world.

Might I add to this whole idea of what makes a person and their impact the value of luck ^^ not the luck as a magic force but more so the luck of everyone actions unrelated to you that effect you in the long run ^^ no mater how skilled you are or how well you plan out everything the actions of someone you cant possibly predict can always stop, hinder or destroy a well thought out plan ^^ Recently tried to make a character whom purely works on luck ... their average in every way but no mater what happens around them they are never harmed by it, they are the living wall ... the tree in the forest that doesn't burn. Seeing if I can work with someone who never fears harm and make them into someone you can relate to and understand ^^ such things would eventually drive someone mad after all lol no fear even when surrounded by death is not something a human mind usually comes out of unharmed. I'm sure there are plenty of people who can speak to the extent of mental harm near death can impart on someone ^^ good test of your writing skills if you are every up to the challenge ^^ Good day to everyone and anyone whom sees this comment ^^ (btw this is all related in the sense of an interconnected world we have to live inside of and how the actions of others effect us in ways we usually consider random or supernatural ^^ )

I’ve been going against the grain whole life and I have a obsession with buildings but it probably won’t get built. I’ll have a 3d pic maybe. It’s fun at least

Dartinin considering I've survived flatlining, I'm pretty sure I'm not scared of death at this point. Pretty much my heart had spiked up so high in heartbeat that it crashed. I was evaluated by medics, and found that I had flatlined. By the time they were about to cart me away in an ambulance, I was moving just fine again. I told them to go home, and that heart spikes like that can happen. I was more concerned about being charged money for their services than of dying. I should have expected generic opinions on here. Why on earth do I have high hopes for people? Is it because I have high hopes for myself, accomplish most of those hopes, and expect the same for others? This is why I acknowledge myself as insane. Not criminally though, so don't go assuming I need to go to some looney bin. Definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.

That’s what Einstein said. It’s pretty true. It’s insane to not to change. My mom has been the same since she was in high school, she is mean but she is a good actor and acts nice.

Glad to have people who get my references. My roommates are terrible in that regard. T_T Also, I happen to have a similar kind of mother. Don't let it get you down too much!