What's Your Greatest Contribution to Humanity?
A short reflection
In 2009, deep in the Borneo jungle, I photographed one of the island's five wild cats—the marbled cat. So rare that the jungle station didn't even have a picture of one on their information board, while the other four species were represented. Our guide, who had worked in the jungle for 15 years, had never seen one.
I sat in the back seat of the jeep with my telephoto lens ready when we stopped. The guide directed the spotlight toward a branch above the road, and there it was—the marbled cat. I captured several perfect shots in the light from the headlamp. When I returned home, I chose to publish the images freely on Wikipedia Commons.
Johan Embréus: Wikimedia Commons
A friend told me: That might be the most significantly influential thing you've ever done, Johan!
Since then, I've occasionally pondered that question... What single action have you taken that most affected humanity?
Perhaps impossible to answer, but meaningful to reflect upon. And it connects to this blog's theme of human and machine—we humans create the machine that is our society. So the question becomes: How have you contributed to our society at global, national, regional, or local levels?
Maybe it's not the grand gestures we imagine. Perhaps it's the small decisions to share knowledge freely, to document something rare, to make information accessible to others. The Wikipedia images have likely been seen by researchers, conservationists, and nature enthusiasts worldwide—contributing to knowledge about biodiversity in ways I'll never fully know.
Or maybe our greatest contributions lie elsewhere entirely. In the social worker who changes one family's trajectory. In the teacher who inspires a student. In the neighbor who builds community. In the countless small acts that ripple outward through the complex machine of human society.
The beauty of this question isn't finding the definitive answer—it's in the reflection itself. It reminds us that we're all contributing to the collective human project, often in ways we don't recognize.
What do you think might be your greatest contribution to humanity? Perhaps it's something you've already done without realizing its significance, or something yet to come.
A short reflection
This one was not easy to answer. Bringing four kids to this earth? Lean on a strengths based practice as a social worker and psychotherapist? Trying my best to be good..