Is becoming a doctor really making something of your life?

[Begaster]

And who is going to care about the Black Plauge of the early 1920's 1,000 years from now? But that isn't the point. There are a few names that will be around until mankind is no longer around. A few athletes names will be around forever (whether people care about that person isn't the point...the name will continue to be around), Einstien's name will be around forever, the names of the two people who discovered the DNA helix will be around forever, the people (or person) that figure(s) out how life started will have a name be around forever, and we can add more names to the list.

Athletes? Hell no.

Some political theorists might survive. Some paradigm-shift causing scientists. A few larger than life leaders. Athletes, definitely not.

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[wisconsindoctor]

Athletes? Hell no.

Some political theorists might survive. Some paradigm-shift causing scientists. A few larger than life leaders. Athletes, definitely not.

Wrong. Athletic records last forever. There will always be videos of the greatest athletes.

 

[neurocirujano]

Exactly. What better job in the world than doing something you love while listening to the music you love? And when you're the surgeon in the room, you don't have to care as much whether your assistants don't like the music. I put on classical all the time at work and many people comment positively, but there are some younger ones (late 20s early 30s) who don't like it too much, so I keep the volume low. I was dumbfounded when a few weeks ago this guy put on not just rap, but Mexican rap. I would never say anything since he's a higher ranked, older, "smart" engineer, but if he was an assistant in my team I would get rid of him. You can't discriminate based on music, but as my close friend explained to me (he has been a manager at different banks for over 20 years), you can always find something on anyone and fire them based on that. There was this black woman who used to work at his bank. She had a disability that made her unable to stand for long. My friend got a new boss and he started inquiring about this woman. He didn't like her and told my friend, a manager, to get rid of her. Now, she is URM and disabled. Anyway, she was caught to have an error on a minor transaction and was fired. So despite all the minority rights and all, there are ways you can get rid of people, even if the only thing you don't like is their cultural refinement, i.e., their music.

Holy crap! Haha, that was a fun read. I liked how you pulled it all together at the end there!

 

[pianola]

I think you should become a women's rights activist .

Come on now -- 51% of the population is a HUGE number to help out.

 

[Ahmed786]

Study Che Guevarra

 

[neurocirujano]

I think you should become a women's rights activist .

Come on now -- 51% of the population is a HUGE number to help out.

Oh no, you've found me!

I'm not against women's rights. (I'm fairly certain that is what you were insinuating.)

 

[Strength&Speed]

So if you don't leave a legacy that the masses will remember you by, you had a worthless life? Living your life by what others think or will think of you is a pretty shallow and miserable way to spend 75 years. Even the most profound, world changing events are soon forgotten. Transience is part of the human memory. We who lived through 9/11 probably said something like "we'll never forget, this was important, we must remember" Our children might find this day meaningful as well, but you can bet our grandchildren won't feel the same emotion for it that we do. For example how many million people died in WWI and their sacrifice is all but forgotten? Survivors of that conflict said "lest we forget", the war should always be remembered. Yet we changed the name of the day that remembers the end of WWI from armistice day to veterans day, diluting the effort to preserve WWI as a distinct, memorable event. What I'm saying is that eventually even the most powerful and influential events will be lost to dusty memories enshrined by a few historians and perused only by the curious, but not the masses.


If you do decide that medicine is the route you want to pursue, and you wind up saving someone's life, I imagine your contribution will be pretty important to that one person. You might find pediatrics gratifiying because would be able to influence the lifelong health habits of several hundred (thousand even) people.

If you feel college is stagnation, you're right. It's a time in your life when you're completely self-focussed. What do I want? What do I do with my time? How do I spent my money? Being so self absorbed does not lead to longtime happiness. That comes from a certain degree of selflessness. For me, I find that in my family. Putting the needs of my wife and child first brings happiness. You may not believe me because you've never been in my shoes, but trust me, being selfless leads to greater happiness than looking out for number one all the time. OP, it's time to do a little growing up.
Why don't you volunteer at a VA or homeless shelter? you wont make world chaning policy decisions at 20 something, so why not change the little corner of the world you live in? you might discover that life can be meaningful without being President.

that was awfully nice. props geogil.

 

[mtrks]

Evolution is just a theory too, according to some. Trust me, you will need to know much about topics that are just "theories" (i.e. gravity!) to do well on the MCAT. In fact, you may even get a passage on the verbal (non-science) about evolution!

Face it. All of us can easily die without warning in a car accident tomorrow. Mortality is something you must overcome to acheive true nirvana

 

[wisconsindoctor]

Evolution is just a theory too, according to some. Trust me, you will need to know much about topics that are just "theories" (i.e. gravity!) to do well on the MCAT. In fact, you may even get a passage on the verbal (non-science) about evolution!

Face it. All of us can easily die without warning in a car accident tomorrow. Mortality is something you must overcome to acheive true nirvana

That is only if we were to drive a car tomorrow, lol.

 

[mtrks]

wisconsin, you are forgetting about just being a pedestrian on the street! only way to prevent yourself from being hit by a car is to sit in your house all day, every day. Reminds me of a funny episode of Penn & Teller's BS about abstinence only education.

 

[pianola]

beat me to the punch line...

 

[pianola]

Oh no, you've found me!

I'm not against women's rights. (I'm fairly certain that is what you were insinuating.)

It was just a friendly suggestion...

 

[neurocirujano]

Evolution is just a theory too, according to some. Trust me, you will need to know much about topics that are just "theories" (i.e. gravity!) to do well on the MCAT. In fact, you may even get a passage on the verbal (non-science) about evolution!

Face it. All of us can easily die without warning in a car accident tomorrow. Mortality is something you must overcome to acheive true nirvana

Who's to say that there is no "work" being performed on the universe?

 

[Narmerguy]

For what it's worth, you didn't come off as a prick to me. I think we should actually be a little more receptive to someone who's confronting some very personal conflicts within him and seeking advise, guidance, inspiration, constipation whatever.

Personally, if you really want to make a monumental change I believe we've passed the age where one man (or woman) can change the world on his own. I think that what you do yourself can always be outmatched by some other's deed. To achieve what you seem to be going for, I think you would have to make change through others. You wouldn't so much do a deed or even a collection of deeds on your own but rather, inspire or motivate others to some ideology you share. Then, through their own individual ingenuity and their own unique passions they go forth and let your effect trickle throughout their lives.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think to do something meaningful that will change the world, you have to get the masses to do the actual changing because only then will it truly be on the scale you speak of. I think the time when someone doing something on their own has passed. Haha, I have no idea what it is you could do though. Perhaps preach? We've all witnessed the massive effect what a preacher says can have on the world today

 

[Bahadur]

Eventualy no one will remember Abraham Lincoln. Eventually the United States will be forgotten. Eventually our modest little sun will explode, our oceans will boil away, and our earth will be a lifeless bit of ash. So probably the OP's dreams of immortality are a little silly. There won't be anyone left to remember him or his sperm.

That was pretty poetic...even with the word sperm in it, haha.

 

[Nevadanteater]

Most.
Appropriate.
Avatar.
Ever.

Good luck. Try not to get too disapointed.

 

[nhazu10]

im new to this forum board and this is the first thread i've read...besides the end haha alot of great things were said...imo...whoever talked about becoming an MD becomes we are interested in medicine said it correctly. we are getting degrees in MEDICINE. you should take interest in medicine and yah care for people too...but it should come down to the science in which you endulge yourself in. whether its cardiology, pulmonary, endocrinology...all of these fields are fields in which you become interested in. trying to help people for the sake of helping people can be accomplished in many ways...it takes a person truly interested in medicine to become a physician. it takes some maturing to realize this.. and thats what college is for. i'm in college right now and i used to be one of those guys who said they would do anything to help people... but i came to realize how unrealistic that was. i enjoy learning about all of these things.. not economics, not theatre, not finance.
good luck w/ ur search

 

[Lokhtar]

Go into research.

 

[neurocirujano]

I've thought about research... Seems like it could get a little boring after a while, especially if I end up not being very good at it. Highly likely.

 

[Hemichordate]

.

 

[mtrks]

The only problem with research these days is that it is really hard to get funding unless you are designing the next bunker buster bomb. That fact heavily influenced me into going for an MD.