# Odds of Making a Difference By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-06-25 Can an individual make a difference? One can likely recall a handful of famous or not-so-famous individuals. But, upon further examination, one will likely find many others that supported or enabled the individual to make a difference. If one relaxes the standard of an individual making a difference, one can reestablish that at least some individuals can make a difference. Of the roughly 160 billion humans that have existed, how many of those individuals made a difference? One million seems like a lot, but if one uses that number, one can calculate the odds of an individual making a difference to be 0.000625. This is a small number, but the odds are better than being struck by lightning (1 in 15,300 for lightning and 1 in 1,600 for making a difference as an individual). However, these odds are highly optimistic and ignore the social network and support required for the individuals to make an impact. Thus, an individual making a difference is primarily, if not entirely, a myth. No one can do it by themselves. Furthermore, the odds of something making a difference with the help of others are extremely small. On a global or even regional scale, the math is straightforward and one is extremely unlikely to make a difference. Most will not play a role in making a difference, and the most one can hope for is that they support someone else in making a difference. But what about all the stories we tell where people make a difference? What about the global and local examples we recall? What about a caring friend or family member who made a difference in one's life? In the same way one can say an individual doesn't make a difference, one can point to examples where seemingly someone made a difference in their life. This paradox and the stories we tell reveal much about our nature and existence. One simultaneously makes no difference and all the difference. Mathematics, logic, and science largely prevent us from embracing both simultaneously. One paradigm hardly suffices to explain the human condition. Multiplicity and paradoxes call for one to question the idea of the individual when contemplating the individual. When a paradox is encountered, look for a new way of being. #### Related Items [[Probability]] [[Progress]] [[Society]] [[Paradox]] [[Paradigms]] [[Individuals]] [[Metamodernism]]