Legacy

How much do you think about your legacy? How much does the idea of being “remembered” motivate/impact how you live your life?

I find this question interesting and something I honestly have not thought enough about. While I often think about my *why* – aka why I do what I do, why I get up in the morning, and why I care about living – I rarely come to the idea of legacy in the sense that I am not so deeply attached to being remembered. Though I do not see it as egotistical, I think personal legacy is not a strong source of motivation for me.

Is that selfless?

This informs the answer to why I choose to work on what I work on. Today, at age 20, I tend to work on things that I have more direct, immediate impacts on the world. I shy away from massive – 200 year projects – because I know I will not be around to see the fruits of my work.

Is that selfish?

Converse to this, I think I do care much about the content of my work being remembered. I care that people know that the work I put out in the world was important, valuable, and impactful. I do not really care if they remember me for it, but rather that the tools and creations I build have some everlasting impact.

Is that selfish, too?

These types of questions, around legacy and long term questions, fascinate me in the sense that I rarely think about my kids’ kids. I rarely think about the year 2100.

But should we be? Is that important?

Is that all of our jobs to be thinking about? And if not, who should be responsible for that sense of future planning. Does modern society really look that far into the future and dissect the pros and cons of our futures? Or do we just wing it.

What will humans legacies be? What will our generation be remembered for? What artifacts will future humans find from our time period that distinguish ourselves?

Are we building to last?