Can one person make the difference?
 

One man can make a difference yes or no? It always struck me as odd in the beginning of KnightRider it always said that.

I tend to think that one can, at least when I was younger and more naive. Now I'm beginning to get really cynical and think that no matter what you do, the rising tide of crap will eventually drown out everything.

Can one person make a difference?

I definitely believe that one person can make a difference. Take doctors, for example. They save lives on a daily basis. Police, firefighters, and ambulance workers all do the same. They help people. They may not change the world, but they do make a difference.

Every person who decides that they can't make a difference, and submits to the rising tide of crap, becomes part of the problem.

Its just so sad that there are so many people out there who simply don't believe that its worth it to even try to make a difference....

Indeed... and from the opposite angle, look at criminals, murderers, and terrorists. I doubt anyone would say the difference they make is a positive one, but no one can deny the difference they make.

Aside from the drastic, everyone makes some difference all the time. Even sitting in your chair reading this you are breathing in air, chaning its molecular composition, and exhaling back out. Every single thing you do affects something ... causes some difference.

The list of examples is long - Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Ben Franklin, etc. Now, did these people have people who shared their vision helping them? Absolutely. I think part of the cause of my cynicism about this is that the world is now so complex that it takes a lot more momentum to change a system that has so many parts that are interrelated and, in turn, very complex. And I am skeptical that one person has the capacity to produce that momentum by him- or herself.

i didn't believe one person could make a difference, then i saw "legally blonde 2: red white and blonde" and realized how wrong i was. yay brusiers bill!!!

I intend to.

Technically, soon as you participate, you got influence. It depends on the scale you're looking at, but I am very sure that I myself are making a difference in my enviroment. I'm sort of the quiet, stable type, and I'm known for trying to put things into a broader perspective and thinking before acting; generally dealing with things in a relaxed, thoughtful way and I'm pretty sure I've had a positive effect on people and that I've made a difference in some people's lives (most of it positive, anyway ;)).

If you're looking for the greater scale, I go with Lurkette- there have been many individuals who've made a difference. Add Leonardo daVinci, van Gogh, Einstein, Rosa Parks to that list.
However, I do think that most people of great performance do not achieve what they do solely on their own. There's almost always a wife/husband/advisor/confidant/mentor around for guidance and support.

Yes.

It depends on how you're defining "make the difference" but in point of fact, that's all there is here on Earth - one person at a time. Each person is an independent agent making a difference.

some people make a difference
some people keep the tide back
some people make dog poop.

I'd like to think I make a difference,
but mostly I just clean up everyone elses shit.

Well, not to be redundant -- but, why not? Yes.

Do you doubt that you can make a difference to one person? Don't think so, you know you can. So even if most of us don't defeat Communism or invent a cheap, limitless form of energy, there are millions of people at any given time making a difference to millions of others. It adds up.

You already have for me and many others here at TFP
thanks:)


Back to the thread.....
yes one can make a difference, but most will never have the courage to try.

Mark Twain said:
"In the beginning of change, the patriot is
a scarce man; brave, hated and scorned. When his
cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for
then it costs nothing to be a patriot"

this can really apply to all walks of life!

Lee Harvey Oswald, Ted Bundy, Sirhan Sirhan, Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacey
They all made a difference, and so can you! :D

Absolutely. One person can make a huge difference.

Jimmy Hoffa made a difference, why can't we? I've got nothing against disappearing afterwards :)

I know of a fellow who donated his entire family fortune to funding an organization that he created with the intention of making a difference. It's still going strong. He had the best answer when they asked him why.

He said "Because it is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness".

The right attitude, whether he was able to make that difference or not.

Well we'll all be forgotten one day.

Most of us have one teacher in our lives that made a difference to us. As a teacher, I hope that I am that person for some of my students. When I do touch someone's life, I feel it and I know that each small change can have a huge impact on the rest of the world.

My challenge to all of us is to think about what we are doing that makes a difference in this world.

I do believe that one person can make a difference.
By helping someone or doing a good deed you may not be saving the world or finding a cure for disease but you can be certain you have made a difference in the life of the person you helped. Although it's only a small difference, if everyone tried to do it more then you would start to see a big difference.
A drop of water on it's own is not powerful or mighty....but combine it with many many other drops of water and it can become a powerful force. It is the same with good deeds.

One person can definately make a difference. Making a difference doesn't need to be on a grand scale. It can be in your local community, with your neighbors, online and so on. Prominant one I can think of is Halx, he created this place and has kept it running. I know because of this place, I'm a different person, and I tend to think that I'm a better, more accepting and a more informed person because of it.
That right there has made a difference in my life, which in turn because of that difference, it will ripple out from me to the ones close to me.

I'll die trying

I certainly think one person can make a difference. Maybe not in the way you imagined as a child but every person has the ability to change something for the better. I just think in Society as it is today no one wants to take the resposibility of changing.

yes, yes one person can make a difference. thanks halx :p

If it wasnt for the great minds through out history, where would we be today?

From personal experience: I went to a party once, got drunk and made what may best be described as a severe tactical blunder. As a result, one person got stuck into me, and refused to be near me for a couple of months. That one person made me rethink a few of my attitudes, and positively affected my life, all on her own.

locked braces?
bad experience with krazy glue?
vaginal spasm where it tightens and doesn't let go (like what happens to dogs)?

Well, I don't rank myself with Ghandi, Martin and the boys,
but YES, I know I can make a difference in someones life---
You have to keep your eyes open and just look---

I volenteer to help with teen age kids at least once a week---
---and there SHE was ---15 and on the phone trying to get
ahold of some one---she is also one of my "favorite adopted grand daughters".....she looks really stressed---will not talk to any of the other adults...

I put my arm around her, and asked if she needed to talk ro someone---to my surprise she wanted to talk to me---another girl had said something that really upset her---we had a long talk,
with her curled up under my arm ---she knew she was safe, and she listened---the other girl came by and we straightened her a-- out right now---the smiles returned, and another crises was over.....and it was such a good feeling to know that I made a difference in someones life when they needed help.....

We have since talked about a number of decisions that she had to make in her life---all she needed was to know some one cares...

If your not part of the solution, you are part of the problem..

So did Jesus Christ. Look at the difference he made. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything about him being right or wrong... but the difference he made is undeniable. People today, 2003 years later, are still following him around.

hehe
Nothing that interesting, Cynthetiq. I just ended up in the wrong bed at the wrong time and in the wrong company.

cyn buddy i'm being lame here, skipping most answers. i've done this kind of question countless times on old BBS' sooo

yes, one person can make a difference, maybe even a huge difference.

what I like, though, are people who collectivly make a big difference.

researchers who may find some medications or even evil people like nazis.

one person rarely makes a difference but it does happen.

ghandi, khan, voltaire, JC, aristotle. ect

of course none of them means anything without writers!

I can, have and will make a difference in my life and others lives and I will not stop until I'm two feet in the grave and six feet under :)

Hate to go against the feel good flow, but the answer is No. There was a time when one person could make a difference, perhaps there will be again but at the moment there is nothing you can do.

By a difference I am talking about the world, I don't think that anyone would argue that you can't make a difference in someones life, or even in your community but the days of changing the world are over.

On the flip side, why do you really want to change the world? Do you want that kind of responsibility? It's like the moral of "the Postman" by David Brin... The Big things just take and take and never give anything back, the little things, (people & small communities) grow with you, remember you, and love you.

I think we may have gotten past the point where one person can change the world, but one person can do amazing things to move toward change, for good or for bad.

It all depends what you are talking about. Everyone who votes in my area gets outvoted in every national election by Chicago, so thousands of people don't get to make a difference.

I believe it only takes one person to make a difference. Not necessarily a huge difference, like changing to course of history or something, but a difference none the less.

Take me for example. A friend of mine's younger sister had some depression problems a couple a years ago. She confided in me for some reason (to this day I still don't know) that she would cut herself regularly and would constantly have suicidal thoughts. I talked her though MANY nervous nights and helped her in anyway I could think of.

She's fine now, like a totally new person. She told me not too long ago, that if not for me, she would most certainly have killed herself.

And that my friends, is the reason why I wake up every morning knowing that the actions of one person can make all the difference in the world.

I say that pretty much every person is making a difference in the local/personal scale. Just talking to people, being there for people, hell even cracking a joke and brightening the day for someone makes a difference. Of course there is always the flip side...

As to changing the world? Well, I guess it depends on how you see it. Some can say one person changed the world indirectly - a person starts something that others do and changes the course of history. I guess no one person can truly change the world directly.

I know its a bit pessimistic but generally IMO the biggest ways a single person can change the world directly is in a negative way...

But hey, people are well known (Gandhi, King, etc.) because they tried to change the system because they wanted to make the difference - and if u don't go out thinking you can, then you can't live forever.

everyone has a unique quality to give to the world even if you just change the life of one person youa re making a difference. like i helped out at a hosts lab for children who couldnt read well. they still come up and say hi. and that makes me feel so good inside. also if you think about it when you break up with someone dont you learn from that experience? yes you do because they taught you something you never knew about yourself. and thus they have effected your life and the lives of everyone else you will ever have contact with in your life because they have changed you in some way, made you think before speaking, made you a more caring person, or made you bitter and or boring. one person can make a difference you just have to be carefull who makes the difference in you. . .