End of the day, while I could make an argument that my job (working on testing tools for safety critical software) makes things better in the grand scheme of things, I know that it doesn’t have a direct human impact like my wife’s nursing or even an impact through society like my parents’ scientific research.

In the end that’s fine, there was a point in my life when I had to prioritize things, and I chose to prioritize making money to support a family. It’s not my absolute priority job wise but it’s the reason I keep working whenever I get discouraged.

And I have a good family, and while I might get a chance to make some other legacy someday, I am pretty happy with my legacy being my family.

But I do try to keep some sight of the good of the wider world, and so I try to be generous as much as I can.

This doesn’t necessarily maximize my impact, I think the swirling tides of history make any long term impact calculations a bit arbitrary, but it gives me a life that most of the time I can be proud of, and that is more than enough