Transforming Societies

I am fascinated by how humans, specifically students, solve complex problems. Increasingly, I’ve become interested in self-directed learning, particularly because I see the positive effects it has had both on myself and on the formative years of many successful intellectuals. I make an important distinction in my objectives; I naïvely told myself that I was optimizing for positive impact of society, but I think this is not what I am actually optimizing for. Arguably, if this was my objective, I would be perhaps a teacher for low-income students, something akin to Sal Khan’s Khan Academy. However, while I will create philanthropic endeavors throughout life, specifically via research contributions, grants, mentorship, and education, I care significantly more about having a transformational impact on society.

A good example of this is the building of the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project. The project undoubtedly has had both negative and positive effects, yet it is one of society’s most transformative undertakings; indeed, nuclear energy, military deterrents, and new advancements in physics will continue to benefit science and Western ideals, which I tend to align myself with. However, it has undeniably caused poor outcomes as well: the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, militaristic regimes, nuclear disasters, and so on. Nevertheless, what matters about this project is its transformative effect on society. Of course, the technology introduces negative scenarios due to nuclear proliferation, but thankfully, we have regulatory bodies, politicians, and peacemakers that have helped to ensure the “beneficial deployment” of such technologies. I must do more research to determine Oppenheimer’s role in the Manhattan Project, but certainly, his role largely involved, if not purely for intrinsic motivation, the use of scientific progress to stop the spread of fascism¹ throughout Nazi Germany and Japan as a means of purpose. This is relevant because I will optimize for a similar outcome, albeit in software, as I enjoy the scalability, reusability, and versatility that software provides. Of course, ideally one’s transformation of society leaves a net-positive (by a large margin) impact on the world, and this should help to steer what to work on.

Many thanks to David Smith, one of my mentors in life and computing education research, who pushes me to reflect on my purpose and research direction. This short writing is a byproduct of one of our recent conversations.