How could me and you help the world?

[peq42_]

Its a fact that the world has many issues as is right now. And while it sometimes looks like we, common people, can't do anything about it, there always are ways to help the world by doing small things.

So, in order to try and incentivise people to, and to know what more I could try, I decided to make this topic to openly discuss it. How does one small person, without a bazillion dollars, can help save the world? How can we help with things we don't understand like curing desease? How can we help countries deal with poor life conditions? How can we help science? How can we help fix the climate change issue?

Here are some free examples I've found after searching(quite a bit might I add):
-ECOSIA A free, privacy-friendly search engine, that plants trees for every few searches you make. 80% of their profits are used for it, and their servers runs on 100% renewable energy.
-Folding@Home You might have heard of this one during the beginning of the pandemic. Its a software that lets you use your PC, when idle, to help scientists run simulations and then those research papers are made available under public domain for free.
-World Community Grid a similar project to Folding@Home, but ran by IBM and that helps with more than just research on deseases. Currently they have, for example, the Africa Rainfall Project which provide more accurate rainfall forecasts, which will help farmers more successfully raise crops in Africa.

And the non-free, yet easy ways:
-Solar Panels: They can produce clean energy for your house, allowing you to lower your electricity bills or even zero it completely, while also producing clean energy for other houses in your region. By using those, you're lowering both your and other people's carbon emission
-Use bicycles/public transport: That way, you're reducing or zeroing your carbon emission when going places, and if you use a bicycle you'll also be exercising while doing so.
-Like games? You can buy some on Humble Bundle where a part of the money you spend goes to a variety of charities. The prices there tend to be as good if not lower than steam itself

Those are just some examples I thought off the top of my head. What about you? What ways do you colaborate with helping the world? What other free and paid ways to you know that a normal person can use to help?

 

[dopan]

I would say avoiding beeing the helping hand or worker for the people who make things worse.
But for that people must first figure out what kind of stuff makes things worse.
And be independ enough to be able to avoid beeing the helping hand or worker.

having a bazzillion $ doesnt help to make stuff worse if nobody is willing to take part of whatever hype or plan ..
its like =>
* imagine there is war but nobodys going to the fight*
(before drones were invented and produced..)

 

[dreamfall887]

I can recomend two great short books that contain helpful advice for anyone wanting to be more eco friendly.

The first one is called "Simple Acts to Save Our Planet: 500 Ways to Make a Difference" and the second one is called "Say No to Plastic: 101 Easy Ways To Use Less Plastic".

Both books are cheap and have useful advice and tips.





Also be sure to look after your mental health, and take breaks from social media and reading the news if it is becoming too overwhelming.

I made a self care thread that has advice for people who are stressed out.

Self Care Tips :D

I thought it would be nice for everyone share some advice for anyone who stressed or anxious. I made a thread called Not Giving Up and I would recommend giving it a read :) https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/not-giving-up.125855/#post-1108085 I put some links to videos or...

forums.rpgmakerweb.com

 

[LiamBrie]

Something I think about a lot is self-reflection. I feel it is probably the most helpful thing a single individual can start to change the world around them. If you don't criticize and analyze the ways you behave and react to situations, you may accidentally live a life of delusion and suck the life out of your surroundings obliviously! That's really dramatic, but listening to other people and 'checking' yourself and keeping communication open, to show you're listening and learning will allow you to craft a support system in a relationship. In practice, I saw a new mutual appreciation for each other's time in my friendships. By going out of your way to help someone close to you in the best way you know how, you resolve negativity that would have stewed or become something worse if you hadn't been there to change that. I don't think I'd be here if I didn't have the people who had the time and patience to listen to me and help along the way.

Environmentally, I'd have to say just making conscious decisions about the amount of waste you're generating. However, it should be worth noting statistically the richest corporations in the world are more responsible for plastic waste and pollution than whatever takes place in someone's average household. I don't know the exact numbers right now but a simple Google will reveal that for example, paper straws aren't going to make or break the underwater eco-system. The fishing industry is almost wholly responsible. For real change to happen, it needs to start from the top down, and those of us with less than a 'bazzillion' dollars can only do our very best to respect the environment and try to become more minimalist. That's at least what I believe.

 

[gstv87]

How does one small person, without a bazillion dollars, can help save the world?

tell people that they should expect *benefits* from their institutions and not *money* with which to acquire said benefits.

and, make sure they understand.

once that's taken care of, everything will sort itself out.



>it WAS sorted out, by itself, thousands of years ago<
somebody broke it down the line, nobody sat down to think about it, they shoved the problem under the rug, and we've been living above the bulge since then.

 

[Lostboy]

I believe the easiest thing we could do as one small person is to stop animal sacrifice for sensory pleasure.
Not only does this way of living breathe more compassion into the world, but according to researchers at the University of Oxford - "Eating a vegan diet could be the 'single biggest way' to reduce your environmental impact on earth, a new study suggests - up to 73%"

Approximately 2400 gallons of water is used to produce just 1lb of meat, while only 25 are required to grow 25lb of wheat.

 

[OcRam]

I believe the easiest thing we could do as one small person is to stop animal sacrifice for sensory pleasure.
Not only does this way of living breathe more compassion into the world, but according to researchers at the University of Oxford - "Eating a vegan diet could be the 'single biggest way' to reduce your environmental impact on earth, a new study suggests - up to 73%"

Approximately 2400 gallons of water is used to produce just 1lb of meat, while only 25 are required to grow 25lb of wheat.

As he said it

And of course thinking consequences on purchasing something... Like phones, computers, cars etc... Do I REALLY need new one...

 

[Walldeaf]

Well, I work at a company that makes a coating for solar panels, so that the reflection of the sun is less, which leads to more power gained by the solar panel.
It's a small difference, like 4%, but it starts with the small things.

 

[peq42_]

Very interesting replies so far ^^

Well, I work at a company that makes a coating for solar panels, so that the reflection of the sun is less, which leads to more power gained by the solar panel.
It's a small difference, like 4%, but it starts with the small things.

well, 4% improvements to solar panel energy production is quite good! It means 4% less energy from sources that polute going to that place or others

 

[Darth Equus]

I am lucky to work from home, so that means zero gas consumption and emission of its byproducts, and use laptops for work and personal use, which use less electricity than a desktop. Wearing shorts and a T-shirt while working also helps me set the AC's thermostat a little higher and still remain cool.

Also, I fix my electronics or buy them used or refurbished, and when they break down, I take them for recycling or salvage to places where they do that.

 

[r66r]

As far as I'm concerned, I prefer to bet on the young generation born after the year 2000 who will take better care of our planet than us and our elders... even if we are (sometimes) only "consenting victims" of what happens to us.

Taking responsibility is good, taking action to reduce our environmental and societal impact is important. But it's also frustrating and discouraging to be the only one in the neighborhood or family to make an effort.

So as a father, I prefer to put my energy into trying to set an example for my kids and inform them as best I can on the subject (note: I don't like the term "educate" in this case, as they are often more in the right than I am on this subject).

And as an amateur game developer, I prefer to focus on serious games that can, if anything, carry a positive message and contribute to the awareness of the phenomena around us. And why not, if I can make money out of it, also donate it to foundations that help the needy.

Finally, the sentence "Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you" has never been as true as it is today... and by others, this means people, of course, but also the environment, biodiversity, etc.

 

[Arctica]

People only started to care about the Earth when the Earth finally got tired of people not caring about it. We go around killing each other every day over non sense and we forget that we're Earthlings and have to take care of the only planet in the known universe capable of sustaining life.

 

[Tai_MT]

I've always been of two mindsets on "saving the world".

The first is, "I'm not so arrogant to think anything I do will save the world".

Saving the world is too big. It's too much work. It's far too arrogant and self-serving to think we ever could.

With that out of the way...

All a person needs to do is the things they can do. No, I don't mean run around and preach to people how to live their lives. Just do what you can do. Lead by example. Don't ask other people to do things for you, do them yourself.

Small examples on my end:
1. I want carts to be put away in parking lots, so I put away my cart, I put away any stray carts near the corral, and I even straighten and organize them so that more will fit.

2. I always throw my trash away. I'll put it in my pocket and throw it away when I get home if I have to. While I don't recycle (because I believe it to be a waste of time as well as a scam), if a bin is available instead of trash, I'll put my trash in there.

3. I do all the crap jobs at work so that other people don't have to stress out about them or fight over who had to do them.

4. I teach people how to do things for themselves rather than doing those things for them. I only help others when what they're doing can't be accomplished by a single person or by them in particular. I teach other people how to be self-sufficient.

5. I approach tasks and challenges from the viewpoint of "If it must be done, then let's do it right, do it right the first time, and avoid having to fix anything later". I will take the extra time to make sure something it done correctly rather than cut corners.

My belief is that we all just need to do the things we can do. Not because we want others to notice them, but because our belief is that these things should be done. You will sway nobody to your viewpoint by preaching your beliefs. But, if you just tell people to do the things they believe in without requiring others to do them... then pretty soon everyone is doing the things they believe in.

I don't want to think of myself as the a-hole who can't put a cart back or throw his trash away, because I was too lazy. So, I do those things. If others feel the same way, then they can do that too.

The second part about saving the world and my viewpoint on it is thus:

There's no way to undo any of the problems in the world in a single generation. Just like getting fat... you aren't going to burn your double chins off in a month. It took you years to put all that weight on, it's going to take years to get it all off. Some of the issues attempting to be solved are basically being treated with "con jobs" in order to bilk money out of people for ineffective solutions. People preying on others who just want to feel good about themselves for "saving the world".

You don't solve a hunger crisis by growing more food... it has two or three dozen other underlying problems that are going to take years to resolve. This applies across the board to nearly any global issue.

Not enough people think very far ahead when it comes to "saving the world", so I don't tend to trust anyone who ascribes to wanting to do so. Much of what such people preach is often the equivalent of teaching an AI how to solve problems.

What do I mean?

"Hey, AI, reduce traffic fatalities by 95% in less than a year."
"Okay, done!"
"Uh... AI... you've effectively killed 95% of the population of the planet."
"And as a result, traffic fatalities are 0.00135% yearly."

Humanity can always be better. It can always do better. But, it's often much easier to aim for smaller things you can do.

"Changing the world" involves getting a ton of people to agree with you as well as basically rewriting a large portion of how lots of things currently work.

In reality, all you really have to do to change the world is... change yourself.

If you are always picking up trash around your friends that others have thrown away, there's a good chance your friends will do it too. Especially if you seem to take pride in the work rather than complain about having to do it. Change starts with yourself and at home.

And don't do things because you want to "save the world". Do things because you want the small piece of the world you interact with... to be a tiny bit better. You don't want your park to have trash in it when you visit it, so you pick up the trash in it when you go.

If everyone works on their own tiny piece of life that inconveniences them... Then you change the world.

Or, as one of my favorite movies says (The Core), "I'm not here to save the world. It's too big. It's too much. I'm just here to save three people. My wife and my children. That's all. Much easier to handle."

 

[Tiamat-86]

i see the title and only response is "mass genocide"
like instant extinction scale.
edit: help humanity, thats a different story.
thanos snap violent and immoral people. remove warning labels and weapons.
let Darwin handle the rest.