If you want to be remembered in history, it’s much easier to be a mediocre sports athlete than to be the best scientist who actually helps humanity. We are a ridiculously stupid species
Who you are remembered by is the context. A lot of people like keeping up with sports so thats why they know this trivia. OTOH scientists in field X will know of all the seminal work in their field. You can make a big impact in the field and be totally unknown outside of it, most scientists probably prefer it that way.
Or maybe what's stupid is to set a goal to be remembered in history in the first place :)
Agreed. I'm not too concerned with being remembered by history or not, I am content in having chosen to do good with my time here.
it's even easier to do somethign atrocious like being a serial killer
>We are a ridiculously stupid species
Can you explain what you mean by this?
Not the OP of the comment, but seemingly a common point of view that the most noble (and in some cases only valid?) pursuit of the human species is science/technology. I do find it interesting of the comparison between "mediocre sports athlete" and "best scientist" from the lens of aid to humanity. One could make an equally valid argument that a mediocre sports athlete brings more immediate utility to people in terms of entertainment, inspired hope, economic spend. In short, value is relative. Being a mediocre professional athlete is still a tremendous achievement. If your goal is to be remembered, you must appeal to the masses. Doesn't mean our species is stupid, it just means we are social.
No, the point of my comment was that most humans appreciate and remember the guy who doesn’t give two shits about them, would rather spend their money on bling and mansions, while the scientist who actually helps humanity tremendously is not even noticed.
Do all scientists create with the goal of helping humanity tho? I get the impression that knowledge for the sake of knowledge can be common too and that the practical applications can be a convenient, but unintended side-effect.