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Originally Posted by JumpinJesus
I don't know how I feel about the dichotomy of the terms. I'm led to believe that if you consider yourself a spectator, then you don't contribute. I prefer the term "participant" to "contributor". In that sense, I consider myself a participant.
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Actually, you are a contributor because you want to leave something behind. I suppose participant is another term that could be applied. As a participant you would interact with other people whether that be helping out, offering support, or just doing good things for people, but not leaving anything material behind.
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Originally Posted by Manorfire
Generally, when people die, those that knew them refrain from speaking about their negative attributes. Perhaps this taboo stems from 'respecting the dead' or those that are no longer here to defend themselves?
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I agree that this tends to happen. This is a bit of topic, but it's interesting how that works. Some people don't become actual contributors until after they are dead. There are numerous authors and artists who don't become recognized as great contributors until after they have died.
A personal example of this is my ex-fiance. He hated the army and was about ready to be given a dishonorable discharge. He died in a car accident at age 21, the military, being the military, awarded him a promotion and a medal after his death. So people who don't really know him will remember him as a great contributor to our country when he really wasn't.
I think that it takes both types of people to make the world go. Not everyone can be contributors because then there would be no one to really appreciate the contributions because everyone is competing to get their contributions noticed. Not everyone can be spectators because then we wouldn't have the wonderful art, literature, music, architecture, and entertainment. I believe that everyone is a participant...that is the core of life. Unless you are a vegetable, you are interacting with other people. Humans need interaction and I don't believe there is really anyone out there that truly wants to be remembered as an awful, horrible person. Even serial killers generally believe they are good and justified in their actions...contributors to a better society or something.