Meaningful Work Debate

I think this may be over reading into it.You can have a job where you feel useful and valuable without changing the world.There are also jobs where you are being very useful, but it's arguably not good for society at large. You've got companies like FB that exist to just sell user data and serve ads and in HFT that milk ever penny out of the stock market where the speed of light isn't competitive enough for them, so they have to be as close to the exchanges as possible. Valu

We need more people working on things they believe are making the world better these days, I'm not sure what your comment is trying to accomplish

Not all impact needs to be at-scale. Perhaps you can make a difference outside of work, and/or at a local or individual level? While the systems crowd that congregates on HN may discount this kind of "last mile" effort, it can be deeply fulfilling (we are social animals after all) and have life-altering positive effects on recipients.I don't know if that speaks to your situation at all. Either way, I wish you (individually) self-understanding and happiness. ^__^

I think that's definitely true of some people, but I think for a lot of people just helping the world isn't super important to them. I'm a pretty practical person and don't think what I do is really helping anyone (though I don't think it really hurts either, though I'm sure many would disagree) but don't really care. I find what I do very mentally stimulating and it also has large upside potential. That's simply good enough for me.

No value to society? Every single business uses marketing to grow, including the one that employs you if you have a job. How about the shareholders who benefited? That includes pensions, retirements, insurance and other funds that you have an interest in.And what about all the other stuff that you get for free, including the majority of the content on the internet? What about all the other services like Gmail and the technical projects that have been opensourced? What about all the people who

In my experience, few people get jobs that help others. There just aren't that many of them. Doing something that has a direct and measurable impact on people's lives is, unfortunately, something that you do in your spare time. Obviously that's a generalisation, there are a handful of jobs that meet the criteria, but aiming to get one is shooting for the moon.But that doesn't matter. You can do good things outside of your job.At the moment I'm building a mobile

Allow for the possibility that you have something important to contribute to the world.

I think it's great to encourage these kinds of work.I'm old and wish I had made my impact in more meaningful areas.Lots of people here have changed the world. I can't be the only one looking back wanting to have done it for a better cause.

> What's the point of it?Live for others.You (and I) are incredibly fortunate. We have our basic needs taken care of. We have more than that. There are many, many, people in the world who have problems that you can help solve. That could be - spending time with a lonely elderly person, volunteering with the homeless, building a website for a charity that can't afford to pay for a great one, building a startup that solves a problem for people... teach someone a skill. It can be

I haven't read all comments on this, but I get the feeling a lot of HN-ers are not too fond of the article.Personally it struck a chord with me.In a previous life I worked at a non-profit aimed at doing 'R&D' in a social context (yes, this is vague and that was just one of the things making me leave...). Although I've left this organisation disillusioned and a lot more cynical about non-profits and their methods / goals, I still strive to use my skills for the betterment of all. Not th