[Serious] Can one life make a difference in the world?

Mave

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Does anyone believe that one person can change something that has a global impact?

I myself am a supporter of this theory. As we seen with many of history greatest and notorious leaders one person can change things for either good or bad.

But why do so many people don't believe that one person can make a change?

Discuss.
 
Re: Can one life make a difference in the world?

Oh, it's possible alright. If Hitler would have been shot in WWI, then maybe we would be speaking Russian instead of English. Maybe the Berlin wall would still be standing if it wasn't for Gorbatsjov, and the Cold War would have ended. Maybe the Cuban missile crisis would have gone far worse if Kennedy hadn't won the election. We'd be either dead or living in a post apocalyptic world.
Fuck, if Rosa Parks didn't say no, we'd still be whipping people with other skin (no racism intended).

It's all the butterfly effect. Perhaps tomorrow, a doctor will be mugged and shot in NY, but perhaps he was thinking about a cure to Alzheimer's on his way home when he got shot. Perhaps if in the prehistory, some ape man didn't move quick enough to get out of the way of the giant mammoth, and be crushed to death, things would have been different. That slow caveman may be the distant ancestor of Osama Bin Laden, and the twin towers would still be standing.

Then again, if someone doesn't do it, someone else will. Hitler may have survived WWI, but perhaps there was even more evil shot instead of Hitler. If Gorbatsjov didn't break down the wall, perhaps another revolutionary person might have done it. If Rosa Parks didn't say anything and got on the back of the bus, perhaps some other African american would step up and break society. Someone else would have had access to the research of that doctor, and find the cure as well. And if Osama didn't attack the twin towers, perhaps someone else would have blown up the White House and half of DC with it.

Tl;dr: Mave is right, some people change the world, but if they wouldn't have done it, some else might have.
 
Re: Can one life make a difference in the world?

^ What he said.

But also, everyones actions effect everyone, no matter what you do. You can annoy someone, that will annoy them, then they will act pissed off to someone else because they were pissed off and then this new person will continue the cycle. that's one example. Then, your decision to refuse to buy alcohol for underage kids, could either stop them going to the party and something bad happening, or the otherway - some other dude will buy it. Actions effect everyone, not just the individual(s - 2 p).
 
Re: Can one life make a difference in the world?

I personally believe this is possible, but even those who believe are split into multiple camps. Take, for instance, the Great Man theory. It's an idea through which history can be largely explained by the presence of influential men who used their power in a way that had an historical impact.

I don't support this, however. I believe that history is influenced directly by the little men. The Great Man might be the one giving the orders, but it depends on his subordinates to deliver. They are the ones creating the fabric of history. The little men. The veteran you see standing by a monument by himself, crying at the memory of his friends, forever to be remembered as nothing more than a statistic.

Nobody remembers the little men, only the ones who gave them their orders. Perhaps my ideas are too communist but I hate how revered some of these "great historical characters" are when in reality they were the lowliest of scumbags.
 
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