Being Significant

In a world that has close to 7 billion people, if we haven't already passed that mark, how can the majority of us claim to be significant human beings?  What does it mean to be significant in this day and age?  To start things off properly, the definition of significant, or one of them is, "important in effect or meaning".    If you were to take humans on an individual basis, we are largely insignificant in the overall scheme of things.  If each of us on this planet lived isolated lives, separate from others, we would have no meaning, there would be nothing we could contribute to the world to even in the slightest sense, make us significant.   Take a look at a hermit (very few of them these days probably because you can't go anywhere without running into someone).  A hermit is a person who lives a largely isolated life, separate from everyone and with very little or no contact with humanity in general.  How then can that hermit claim to have any significance?  I would say he can't.  He (or she) lives an isolated life where nothing he does impacts the larger, social, human condition.  However, as I mentioned, there are very few if any hermits that I know of living in the woods (probably because they don't want to be found), and as for the rest of us, we do not live isolated lives.  Depending on what we do, we interact with a varying number of people every day.  As such, regardless of our actions, none of us are entirely insignificant. 

There are certain individuals, who throughout history have had an enormous impact on society, contributing revolutionary ideas, changing the course of history itself, or vastly improving the human condition and thus are considered enormously significant human beings.  That being said, those individuals are a small minority of the global population and always have been.  The majority of us play much smaller roles in society and are capable of having a significant effect only on those we interact with daily.  Regardless of how insignificant we may feel at times, I guarantee that we are not.  If you look at the definition of significant, there is no quantifier that determines at what point we become significant, all that is necessary is an action or idea that is important in effect or meaning.  In order to see our own significance, we must look at ourselves through the eyes of others.  A simple smile or hello could have a significant impact on a complete stranger and turn their day around.  Just because what we perceive to be insignificant does not mean that it is insignificant as perceived by others.  Quite the opposite, if that person we smiled or said hello to had been ignored all day by everyone around him and we were the first person to extend kindness his way, then our action could be enormously significant to him.  

So how does all this play out in modern society, a society in which we are both increasingly connected yet at the same time disconnected?   Human interaction on a personal level has diminished greatly.  We can connect with others around the world instantaneously through the Internet and other devices, yet while connecting with others through technology, it is also drawing us away from that personal interaction we used to have more of.  There is a serious disconnect happening on a personal level.  I personally feel that through this disconnect arises a greater feeling of insignificance as we do not have the ability to affect others in the same way.  This is not to say that we can't be significant through technology, it is more to say that we can't be as significant and when we are, we don't recognize it as much because of the disconnect that technology enhances.  Through technology, we are less likely to recognize our significance thus leading to increased feelings of insignificance.  This can be attributed to the fact that as humans, we are social beings, and when we interact with others face to face, we gather much more information about the person we are interacting with through our senses.  We see how people react, we hear the change in their voice, we can offer a consoling touch if that is what is required.  None of this is available through the Internet and technology (perhaps via Skype, but otherwise it is minimal).  If you take simply the auditory perspective and separate it from the visual and the tactile, then we are only receiving part of the picture and as such have much less to process and to react to.  We were meant to interact face to face where we can have the greatest impact on others, spur our own feeling of significance in relation to others reactions, and feel a sense of importance if you will.  

If we continue as we are today, spending more time in front of the TV or glued to our computer and Internet, any feelings of significance we had will start to fade into insignificance.  So what does it matter if we feel significant or insignificant?  What impact does it have on us?  I feel that while we may not always be cognizant of the effect that it has on us, but it does play a role in how we live our lives, how we interact with others, and how it impacts our overall view of life.  With a growing feeling of insignificance, we are more likely to fall into depression, have a negative outlook on life, and shy away from interaction with others.  What we need is to boost our significance.  (I know this may sound selfish and egotistical, but it isn't).  We need to interact with others and seek to have a positive impact on their lives.  This positive impact could be as simple as saying hello to a stranger or being there for someone to talk to, to vent their frustrations to, or simply to be with.  These actions, while minor to us, can have a large impact on those around us.  Granted, we can also have a negative impact on others and those impacts could also be considered significant, but for the sake of this post, lets simply focus on the positive.  Today, take some time to interact with others face to face.  Even if it is five minutes out of your whole day.  Whatever you do could have a large impact on others, you just may not see it as such.  To finish with, let us all recognize that we are significant in some way, shape, or form and are valued more highly by others than we could imagine.