"serve others", can't figure out exactly his intention by sayin' that but it's a quite weird statement, IMO.
My opinion is: do what you want, if that pleases you, great! If that pleases even more people, greater!
My opinion is: do what you want, if that pleases you, great! If that pleases even more people, greater!
Here are some other statements about Franklin from Wikipedia which might illuminate the meaning (and maybe Norvig's assessment of the quote's relevance to computer science, information retrieval and Google):
Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."[3] To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."
Franklin never patented his inventions; in his autobiography he wrote, "... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."
His inventions also included social innovations, such as paying forward. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.
Everyone should read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Autobiography_of_Benjamin_F...
Many good quotes and lessons therein.
In any place that I know of, other than here, the answer would be obvious. Provide value for other is not a random byproduct, it is a proactive endeavour.
I was not so convinced about the ethical statement that one should actively do good some time ago. So many evil has been done in the name of good. And with enough cynicism, one can always find a selfish reason for any good done (Mother Theresa did what she did partly to be earn her paradise, right?).
But now I have a kid, and I have changed my mind: I would certainly ask him to proactively do good to other. I am already insisting that he should let other kids play his train Lego.
Sometime I wonder if having kids and understanding the consequences should not be mandatory before defending any ethical position. It is too easy to be cynical, to have bold unsustainable claims, to hope for the worst when you are not burdened with another human being's future.