Can one person make a difference? What the evidence says.

[Mr.Meer]

It’s easy to feel like one can person can’t make a difference. The world has so many big problems, and they often seem impossible to solve.


https://80000hours.org/career-guide/can-one-person-make-a-difference/

So when we started 80,000 Hours — with the aim of helping people do good with their careers — one of the first questions we asked was “how much difference can one person really make?”

We learned that while many common ways to do good, such as becoming a doctor, have less impact than you might first think; others have allowed certain people to achieve an extraordinary impact.

In other words, one person can make a difference, but you might have to do something a little unconventional.

In this article, we start by estimating how much good you could do by becoming a doctor. Then, we share some stories of the highest-impact people in history, and consider what they mean for your career.

 

[Mr.Meer]

Wonder how many know about this.

Or consider the story of Stanislav Petrov, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet army during the Cold War. In 1983, Petrov was on duty in a Soviet missile base when early warning systems apparently detected an incoming missile strike from the United States. Protocol dictated that the Soviets order a return strike.

But Petrov didn’t push the button. He reasoned that the number of missiles was too small to warrant a counterattack, thereby disobeying protocol.

If he had ordered a strike, there’s at least a reasonable chance hundreds of millions would have died. The two countries may have even ended up engaged in an all-out nuclear war, leading to billions of deaths and, potentially, the end of civilisation. If we’re being conservative, we might quantify his impact by saying he saved one billion lives. But that could be an underestimate, because a nuclear war would also have devastated scientific, artistic, economic and all other forms of progress leading to a huge loss of life and well-being over the long run. Yet even with the lower estimate, Petrov’s impact likely dwarfs that of Nalin and Landsteiner.

 

[Mr.Meer]

The link above is a pretty interesting read.

 

[SLADE]

I wonder how many times that happened on both sides.

 

[Mr.Meer]

I wonder how many times that happened on both sides.

Good point Slade, over the years, I bet a few times, but we never will know.

 

[Mr.Meer]

Dr. Nalin helped to save millions of lives with a simple innovation: giving diarrhoea patients water mixed with salt and sugar.

Since then, this astonishingly simple treatment has been used all over the world, and the annual rate of child deaths from diarrhea has plummeted from 5 million to 1.3 million. Researchers estimate that the therapy has saved about 50 million lives, mostly children’s.

 

[Mr.Meer]

"One person can make a difference".

by Bob Blees
Missouri, USA

It had been a long, hard week, and I was heading home one day in 1994. I was a computer consultant, specializing in on-site training, which meant I was a typical road warrior. My work “week” normally started Sunday morning when I caught a flight to wherever I would teach the next week, and ended with a flight home on Friday, arriving home around midnight.

Trying to be a good trainer was rewarding but exhausting. Anyone who’s taught knows that you have to be on your toes all the time. You need to stay tuned in and responsive to your students. By Friday evening I was pretty well worn out.


One of the few perks of flying as much as I did was getting an upgrades to first class without much difficulty. This flight was no exception. It was non-stop from Kennedy airport in New York to LAX in Los Angeles.

As I settled into my seat, I noticed two young, unaccompanied children being seated by the stewardess in the front row of the Coach section. They appeared to be a brother and sister, about 6 or 7 years old.

I groaned inwardly, as I thought of five hours with two young children right behind me and no parents in sight. My worst fears were soon realized.


https://heroicstories.org/one-person-can-make-a-difference/

 

[Mr.Meer]

You might think the difference you can make is insignificant. I too had that belief five years ago. I thought to myself “What can someone like me living in Australia, with average financial means, do to make a difference in the world?”




The easiest way to think about making a difference in this world is to inspire one person first. All of us can inspire at least one person, to begin with. It’s a simple, measurable and an achievable goal that will show you what’s possible.

Ordinary people like you and I go to work during the day. We don’t sit on the beach with a laptop sipping martini’s and checking our PayPal account to see if we can afford another Ferrari.

 

[Meerkat]

I wonder how many times that happened on both sides.

We probably couldn't sleep at night if we knew.

 

[Meerkat]

One person can make a difference if people want to listen.I think Churchill,Ceasar,Bell and Graham,.Henry Ford. As did the man who divided the atom which may or may not have been a good difference.

 

[Mr.Meer]

OCTOBER 28, 2019

Did JFK Say It?: “One Person Can Make A Difference and Everyone Should Try”

https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2019/10/28/make-a-difference-quote/
Archivists at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library have seen a lot of JFK quote memes, usually sent from people who saw them online and wanted to check out their authenticity. We love a good puzzle, and verifying viral quotes can be especially tricky: an unsourced quote next to a JFK photo can make for a meme that reaches thousands on social media before anyone has a chance to correct or contextualize it.

 

[Mr.Meer]

15 Incredible Examples of One Person Making a Difference.

https://streetcivics.com/15-incredible-examples-of-one-person-making-a-difference/
While the question is on the right track, there shouldn’t really be any doubt as to whether or not a person can make a difference in the world. The basic principle of cause and effect would suggest that simply existing alters the shape of your environment.

Even by reading this article, for example, you’ve taken a bit of action (a cause) that could help shape your environment (effect). Whether it’s for a class essay or simply for inspiration (causes), reading an article online changes information flows in both online and offline communities (effects).

If you then further share something from the article or alter your behavior based on what you read (more causes), someone else in your environment may also alter their behavior and so on (more effects).

Below this article looks at examples of individuals “making a difference” in the world – many of them lesser-known in history. However, I leave the term “making a difference” undefined so that we can examine the spectrum of cause and effect.

Martha Gellhorn was an author and journalist who is considered one of the greatest war correspondents of all time. She covered virtually every major conflict over the span of a 60-year career. She was relentless in her reporting and managed to find creative ways of uncovering harsh truths about world conflicts.

Gellhorn’s career was groundbreaking in a number of respects including breaking down barriers for women reporters as well as completely changing how war reporting was done. One of her first breakthroughs came when she reported on the Spanish Civil War.

Without a formal assignment from a newspaper, she forged documents to get into the war zone. From there she began focusing her stories on the impacts of the conflict on human lives. Her attention to the human cost was a departure from the usual reporting which focused on battlefield strategies, assessments from generals, the heroics of soldiers, and generalized conditions for civilians.

 

[Morgan101]

Can one person make a difference? Sure they can. Making a difference is a very relative thing. Not everyone is going to find a cure for cancer, or a solution for World Peace, but you can certainly be a positive role model for other people. That makes a difference. Every parent has been a role model, hopefully a positive one, for their children. When you see kids grow up and become productive adults, you know someone has made a difference. Health Care providers, Religious leaders and teachers are professions that come to mind that can make an enormous difference. I'm sure there are many more. The contributions may seem small, but IMHO they are all significant.