What is your "Great Work"?

[Martinus]

So, two things.

One, this is a thread inspired personally by my recent musings - namely that if there is one thing missing in my life (and I feel it more and more keenly) is "something greater". I am not just talking of religion or spirituality (although I suppose for many people the sensation of being connected to something greater, coupled with a communal aspect of it, performs exactly that role). It could be anything you do that does not benefit you and your immediate family personally - it could be charity, volunteering, activism. It could even be a hobby. I called it a "Great Work" as I could not find a better term. I suppose if you must, please say "raising children" but I am looking for something that benefits the community (or at least has a communal aspect) more than your immediate tribe.

Two, I am not looking for advice per se - as I already have a few ideas - I am more curious whether many of other Languishites recognise such a need in their lives and if so, what fulfils it.

[Barrister]

Raising my children.

[Jacob]

I'd suggest starting by working on your sense of empathy and branching out from there.

[Pedrito]

Sometimes I look at my country and think that being a functional adult is a great work per se.

You can substitute "this board" to "my country", it works the same.

L.

[Lettow77]

Promoting yukkuri and the consumption of culture, the genesis & preservation of the South which will come into its kingdom in space.

[Grey Fox]

Raising my children benefits the community and the species.

[Barrister]

Seriously though Marty, I don't quite know how to respond to your thread.

Absolutely I feel the need and desire to be part of "something greater", to live not just selfishly for myself, but for the wider world and community.

But right there in your original post you recognize what the two most popular answers are going to be "religion" and "family", and then go out of your way to say you aren't interested in those, or that they don't count.

I'm not saying you have to go out and start attending Church, marry a nice woman and start pumping out children.  Everyone has to find their own path and calling.  But you don't get to ask a deeply personal and philosophic question, and then go out of your way to reject the answers you don't like right off the bat.

[Martinus]

Seriously though Marty, I don't quite know how to respond to your thread.

Absolutely I feel the need and desire to be part of "something greater", to live not just selfishly for myself, but for the wider world and community.

But right there in your original post you recognize what the two most popular answers are going to be "religion" and "family", and then go out of your way to say you aren't interested in those, or that they don't count.

I'm not saying you have to go out and start attending Church, marry a nice woman and start pumping out children.  Everyone has to find their own path and calling.  But you don't get to ask a deeply personal and philosophic question, and then go out of your way to reject the answers you don't like right off the bat.

I didn't reject religion in the opening post. Although I do admit I am looking for more original responses.

[Valmy]

My family, my kids, wanting to contribute to the management of the world's energy resources.  I firmly believe that your identity in life is primarily shaped by what you are committed to.  I am unlikely to every make that big of a difference in the energy sector but I am committed to doing so and it pulls me onwards through my education and career.  So who knows?  Maybe I will make a difference, but I just know the commitment to it makes me do things I ordinarily would not if I was just doing whatever felt good right now or whatever my self interest happens to be at the moment.

That is pretty much my life philosophy right there.  It is important to be committed to something, I was going absolutely nowhere until I had that revelation.

[crazy canuck]

1) Raising my children;

2) Coaching many other children even before I had children;

3) Pro Bono work

[Barrister]

Seriously though Marty, I don't quite know how to respond to your thread.

Absolutely I feel the need and desire to be part of "something greater", to live not just selfishly for myself, but for the wider world and community.

But right there in your original post you recognize what the two most popular answers are going to be "religion" and "family", and then go out of your way to say you aren't interested in those, or that they don't count.

I'm not saying you have to go out and start attending Church, marry a nice woman and start pumping out children.  Everyone has to find their own path and calling.  But you don't get to ask a deeply personal and philosophic question, and then go out of your way to reject the answers you don't like right off the bat.

I didn't reject religion in the opening post. Although I do admit I am looking for more original responses.

I'm sorry the things I find meaningful aren't "original" enough for you.

[Valmy]

You are an attorney so you have the training to help out all sorts of activists and causes.  I mean the law you know for your job may or may not be applicable but you have the training to learn whatever might be applicable in another field right?  Anything you feel particularly strongly about you do some pro bono assistance?

[Valmy]

Promoting yukkuri and the consumption of culture, the genesis & preservation of the South which will come into its kingdom in space.

When that galactic kingdom comes into being I can only imagine the pride you will feel.

[Martinus]

Seriously though Marty, I don't quite know how to respond to your thread.

Absolutely I feel the need and desire to be part of "something greater", to live not just selfishly for myself, but for the wider world and community.

But right there in your original post you recognize what the two most popular answers are going to be "religion" and "family", and then go out of your way to say you aren't interested in those, or that they don't count.

I'm not saying you have to go out and start attending Church, marry a nice woman and start pumping out children.  Everyone has to find their own path and calling.  But you don't get to ask a deeply personal and philosophic question, and then go out of your way to reject the answers you don't like right off the bat.

I didn't reject religion in the opening post. Although I do admit I am looking for more original responses.

I'm sorry the things I find meaningful aren't "original" enough for you.

You seem to be very defensive. If you are not interested in the thread, don't respond.

[DontSayBanana]

I'm not a family man by any stretch of the definition, so that leaves me a little freer to pursue my own particular obsession: artificial intelligence.

Aside from the practical limitations of engineering a functioning artificial intelligence, I'm also concerned with the ethics of creating sapient machines.  In particular, just how much freedom should we allow for subjective decisions.  If machines begin making subjective decisions, the pandora's box is that machines could interpret a situation in such a way as to act to a person's, or humanity's, detriment.

If we view AI as a tool, we can set boundaries to prevent that from happening and concentrate on objective reasoning.  If we view an artificial intelligence as a form of life, on the other hand, deliberately limiting its cognitive abilities could be akin to a lobotomy, and the focus should be on training and guidance, with the acceptance that it will never be 100% safe.