Do you feel a responsibility to contribute to something bigger than yourself?
There is nothing bigger than myself. Sorry, that was a joke (laughing). What does that question mean?
In general, do you feel a responsibility or desire, either personally or through your work, to contribute to something that feels greater than you?
I’m trying not to roll my eyes, because that sounds like the kind of question that people want to answer by saying, “Well, Ialready do,” and, “Of course I do!”
I do the best I can at everything, everyday, which is not always that great, but it’s what I’ve got. Are you talking about trying to help the world?
It’s open to interpretation. But we appreciate honesty, too, so if you say, “Nope, I don’t feel a responsibility or a desire at all,” then that’s totally cool.
The problem is that it’s one of those questions that sounds like that old joke: “Have you stopped beating your wife?” But instead, it’s phrased as: “Have you donated to a charity to stop people from beating their wives?”
I mean, yeah, I guess so. But, it takes so little effort today to look like you care about something, and I find that distressing. Our culture has become so cynical about a certain kind of otherness—I don’t want to get into it.
Yes, I do feel a responsibility to contribute to something bigger than myself, but I don’t have any projects that I can point to about that (laughing).
Okay (laughing).
Not to get all Catcher in the Rye again, but is there anybody who donates money or volunteers their time without writing a Facebook post about it?
There is so little dignity about how we care for other people. It almost feels like if we don’t get to collect a ribbon for what we do, then it’s not worth doing. Sometimes I feel like it’s really more about personal branding than it is about helping people.
If you want to really help people, then go out and help people. It’s like when people say, “Buy this pink yogurt, and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity!” Well, you know what’s really great? Donating directly to a good cause and having the entire portion go to charity—and you don’t have to act like you’re Ghandi because you bought a snack. Just go spend some money on something you care about, then shut up about it: that’s a dignified way to be an adult who helps people.
Merlin Mann, The Great Discontent interview
Published November 12, 2013
