Effectiveness

The world is broken, completely and utterly. We are faced with many terrifying problems, big and small. Every single one of them causes real harm to human beings. Yet incompetence is rampant. Few people have the willpower to bring real change…and even fewer have thought about whether their “real change” would actually solve these problems! Many problems are left unsolved, and they are intentionally left unsolved because the solutions are too complex/too unpopular/too [insert-excuse-here]…so why bother solving? Much better to fritter away your life in complete bliss/ignorance, while your fellow Human suffer.

I do not like problems. I do not like watching humanity suffer as a result of these problems. And I do not like waiting for solutions to appear out of nowhere. The time when I was most happy and most sastified with myself is when I am able to actually do something to make life better and to resolve a specific problem. I either am able to involve myself directly in the task, or offer advice that would help someone in their task. So I suppose the value that I represent is that of “Effectiveness”. I see a problem, and I will attempt to resolve that problem, by any (ethical) means necessary.

But I do not actually live up to the value of “Effectiveness” as I would want to. The main reason I do not is because many problems out there are too complex, and that cannot be resolved only by myself. So I am forced to ignore them, no matter how much it pains me, simply because I cannot do anything about them. I also have to intentionally limit myself, becuase I do not want to sacrifice my own well-being for the Greater Good. I don’t think I can handle it.

I think that this value gives me something to be proud of, which may help alleviate any effect of the Sterotype Threat, if I do encounter it. I do have something to strive towards. But I view this trait as also causing me problems as well. What I have to internalize is this: while it is desirable to want to solve problems, sometimes it is okay if you fail anyway. Sometimes, people make mistakes and misjudge the situation. And other times, the perfect solution to one problem will just cause a brand new problem elsewhere. Utopia isn’t going to happen. But if humans’ lifes can be bettered, I think I will be content.