Why do we want to leave a mark on this world?

“We're here to put a dent in the universe.” - Steve Jobs

Dreaming big

Steve Jobs achieved a lot in his lifetime. A real lot. When he said these words, his point was, why else would we be here? If not to do something, change something, achieve something? In other words, our purpose is to put a dent in the universe.

So who am I to disagree with such a big man? But the universe is far far bigger than the biggest of men so disagree I must. We are in the universe, of the universe, from the universe. The very atoms that make us up come from the bellies of stars that exploded billions of years ago. There’s nothing we can do that actually makes a dent in the universe. I know that Steve Jobs would have meant this metaphorically not literally. More as a call to dream big, do big things and leave a mark on this world. Does it work as a call to action for the masses? Maybe. Does it work as good advice on how to live life? I’ll say nope.

Leaving a mark

Yes Steve Jobs left a mark. We still talk about him after he’s gone. So did Pharaoh Khufu. He left us the great pyramid (although I don’t like ascribing the success of a project to individuals when clearly it was the work of a collective - but I digress). Both these guys, Jobs and Khufu are now gone. When we talk about them we don’t serve them, we serve ourselves. They don’t care about our thoughts. They have either moved on to the afterlife where Heaven or Hell await them, or they have been reincarnated, or their consciousness has joined the reality that underlies mind and matter, or… there is nothing: the molecules that came together to form their bodies and consciousness have simply left that system. Regardless of what belief you have around what happens after death, whether you’re a Theist (God created everything), Monotheist (only one God), Polytheist (many Gods), Pantheist (This universe is God), Panentheist (God is in everything) or an Atheist (there is no God), I’m sure you’ll agree those who have passed on are not thinking about our worldly affairs right now. This is the point I’m making: If the call to action is to do some good in the world while you’re alive, I’m with you. If the call to action is to do something great that men and women will be talking about for generations to come, I don’t get it. How do you expect to outlive your own mortality? It’s going to catch up with you. How will the dent in the universe you are chipping away at, serve you beyond the demise of your life? This is where this slogan breaks down for me.

Remember the name

This urge to leave a mark behind, to show some evidence of having once been alive, grips all of us. Think of all the names carved into trees, in rocks, spray painted on walls.

There’s a war memorial tower near where I live in the suburb of Eltham. When I went there with my seven year old daughter a few days ago we saw that someone had spray painted their names on the lookout point. My daughter smacked her forehead and exclaimed “Teenagers!”.

I remember a couple of years ago, when my wife and I were travelling through Iran (a naturally gifted country by the way with a beautiful cultural heritage spanning millennia), we went to the city of Isfahan, where the site of the famous ancient city of Persepolis (the one that Alexander the Great set to fire) had been excavated in the 1930s. On those majestic pillars from the Achaemenid dynasty, dating back close to two and a half thousand years, some major from the British army had carved his name.

This isn’t new, we’ve always done it. So many ancient city ruins have graffiti from people who used to live there writing down their names. The oldest known cave paintings are 40,000 years old and I bet you, had written language been around back then, people would have been writing their names next to their artwork. What’s this urge to leave your name behind? Are we trying to outlive death by leaving behind a memory of once having been alive? What good does it do for us? We certainly should dream big, think big, act big and do courageous things, good things, helpful things but can we please reflect on the folly of wanting to leave a legacy behind? This is why the question “what do you want people to say in your eulogy?” is starting to become harder and harder for me to answer. If I’m dead, I likely wouldn’t give a damn.

Remember the name, but only if it serves you - it won’t serve me when I’m gone

The greatest challenge of being alive is making peace with the notion of not being alive one day. Making peace with our death which could be now or later. The best we can hope for is that when death comes seeking us, we are ready to happily let go. I did not know Pharaoh Khufu or Steve Jobs personally. I know they were visionaries and achieved great things in their lives. I hope that when death came for them, the experience was good for them. I hope that while I am alive, I can achieve good things. I hope that I can “plant trees under whose shade I do not expect to sit”. I hope those trees can provide shade to others. I hope my preparation while alive leads me to a good experience of death when it happens for me. I don’t care what men and women will say afterwards. I don’t care if my name will be remembered. I will be gone.

I always enjoy a discussion on purpose; why we show up for work, how we become resilient leaders and what it means for those we serve.

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