Pioneering scientific discoveries and engineering new technologies are the only two lasting, positive impacts one can ever have in life. Anything else is either non-impactful or simply cultural changes, which are neutral to our species in the long run.

What we can do as a species and what we actually understand about the universe are the two fundamental aspects of humanity that have any significance just ten generations later. And of the two, learning something new about the universe and sharing it is far more significant of an impact. It will last longer because of the nature of science to build upon previous discoveries.