Well, it is interesting to know that most scientists make the most contribution to their fields when they are between 25 -35 years old. Taking this into account, we can all agree that our fathers and forefathers of modern science had opportunities to make such long lasting contributions to these fields. However, I think vital components are missing in our generation to realize these opportunities to impact the world.
You may disagree or agree with me - here is a list of obstacles that may stand in our way when we want to impact the world: creativity, globalization and motivation.
Let us look at creativity. We cannot argue the fact that educational institutions and systems are designed in such a way that they favor the industrial workforce of society - meaning that it gives people the reality that they exist to go to school, go to work and then kick the bucket. The exceptions are those who have followed their passions with the most minimal deviation - in effect going against the social trends of a successful life - these people are the history makers. To me, it feels like our systems have killed creativity in the general population while the others (system creators) continue to be creative. Think about the following questions for a while before you criticize my logic. How many people go into traditional science careers and eventually end up in the business or finance sector? How many engineers or physicists are refining ancient theories and how many are looking for different ways/methods to do something that already exists(something new)?I have a feeling more are applying than exploring. Why should performance artists spend more and more time not performing? How much freedom do you think Newton and Einstein had? Just because we have a foundation for science, many people tend to narrow their development to this foundation rather than exploring other types of foundations. The answer is simple. We sacrifice creativity for survival (we deny ourselves the opportunity to discover new things because dependency theories demand us to do repetitive work to earn money to survive).
Moving on to globalization (a form of dependency) - let us look at a few scenarios. The centralization of money and resources has resulted in every engineer, doctor and academic to collaborate and invent something incredible - which is good. But at the end of the day who benefits? The engineer's poor country or the rich country where the invention was made? Please do not misinterpret me! All I am advocating for is simple : the impact you are making - will it only be accessible to people with money or will it be accessible to anyone who needs it? Are we willing to sell our skills to rich foreign organizations for millions(for money) rather than use these skills to develop our own homes, communities and nations for peanuts? The game theory probably has an explanation for this. For clarity purposes, let me reiterate that I am not attacking globalization but posing an important question: What will we sacrifice in order to make an impact in society (will it be financial status or people who can derive the most from your innovation)?
The third and final obstacle is motivation. What motivates people to take maximize on opportunities for development? We live in a world where most people propagate the idea of improving the wheel and not reinventing the wheel. So we are limited to improving the wheel because that is where all the benefits are centralized. What encourages people to reinvent the wheel nowadays? Do you think Henry Ford could have invented the Model-T Ford if he did not reinvent the wheel?
There are a lot opportunities to contribute to society. From the environmental, scientific, financial to even the social level. I think if we can answer why we want to make an impact in society then we are more likely to make the right decisions in assessing the pros and cons of every opportunity. Every decision affects people around you. So, let us take some time and think about the reasons why we would want to impact the world.
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