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  • Dave Rahardja (temporarily spooky)drahardja@sfba.social
    Sep 27, 2026, 8:39 PM

    I’ve probably said this before, but I don’t get why people reply with “yeah but your action won’t solve the entire problem” where «problem» is a massive systemic issue; as if that kind of reply were worth considering or profound or something.

    My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.

    We don’t need to solve the ENTIRE problem to make a substantial improvement. Every small act of restoration is a valuable act of defiance. Do it not because it solves EVERYTHING; do it because it solves SOMETHING. Let yourself be known as a helper, someone who does what CAN be done, while looking for opportunities to do EVEN MORE.

    Don’t become a speed bump on someone else’s journey to find solutions.

    Be part of the solution, be curious and learn to help, or be muted/blocked.

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Replies

  • CM Harringtonoctothorpe@mastodon.online
    Sep 27, 2026, 8:44 PM

    @drahardja I do this to myself a lot… and it obviously causes me to just not do the things I could be doing, which sucks.

    It takes a bit for me to get over that hump.

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  • Dave Rahardja (temporarily spooky)drahardja@sfba.social
    Sep 27, 2026, 8:48 PM

    @octothorpe I like to use the opposite framing, and I’ve said this phrase so much to my family that they can now predict when I’m about to say it:

    “IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE.”

    The point of the phrase is to break yourself out of an all-or-nothing mindset. If you can imagine things getting worse, that means you’re actually somewhere on a CONTINUUM of bad-to-good. And if you’re on a continuum, that means things can get BETTER. You may not be able to fix everything, but you can usually make things better.

    PS: The full phrase I use is: “It can always get worse; you could also be standing in shit.”

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  • CM Harringtonoctothorpe@mastodon.online
    Sep 27, 2026, 9:32 PM

    @drahardja ha! I get that. And it makes sense. Luckily it doesn’t happen much where acts of kindness are involved. It’s more like ‘why bother writing this thing when it’s not novel and won’t be read by the people who really need to read it’ or ‘if I make this thing and put it out there, then I’m forever responsible for it, and you absolutely don’t have the energy’

    But I’m totally using that in the future. Cheers!

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  • TJC-TJC_2@mastodon.social
    Sep 27, 2026, 10:54 PM

    @drahardja
    Thank you for the clear headed response to this.

    Please help family, friends and neighbors confirm their voter registration and have a solid plan to vote. We go door to door in our neighborhood with candidate info and encouragement.

    Vote out ALL Republicans. Local, State and Federal. Every One! That'll help.
    #vote #elections #democracy #family

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  • Phil Stevens :tinoflag:phil_stevens@mastodon.nz
    Sep 28, 2026, 4:23 AM

    @drahardja The only proviso I ever impose on myself is "try not to make your particular solution exacerbate some other problem" and although it's not foolproof, it's a good life principle.

    It's not always easy, but I want to celebrate anyone's effort to make something better. Or at least less bad.

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  • David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
    Sep 28, 2026, 6:59 AM

    @drahardja A lot of solutions I’ve seen proposed to complex problems have misunderstood the root cause of the problem, economics, psychology, or (in some cases) all three. As a result, the best that they will accomplish is adding complexity to a system but not actually addressing the problem (which may make it harder to actually fix). At worst, they will exacerbate and entrench the problem.

    Doing nothing can be better than doing something if the something is counterproductive. If you have an oil fire on your cooker and someone is about to pour water on it, stopping them won’t put out the fire but it’s still the right choice.

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  • KirKir@mastodon.uno
    Sep 28, 2026, 7:54 AM

    @drahardja this is so true, but as a highly abstract person myself I really understand the fear that focusing on the particular can make you unsee the systemical.

    It's a real problem

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  • Dave Rahardja (temporarily spooky)drahardja@sfba.social
    Sep 28, 2026, 8:05 AM

    @Kir I comfort myself in knowing that my focus is limited, and I cannot both focus on generalities and particulars at the same time, so I must zoom in and out of a problem and pay more or less attention to any particular level of abstraction. Balance is absolutely key. Spend too much time zoomed out, and you develop little expertise about how to actually solve the problem. Spend too much time zoomed in, and you become obsessed at finding a local maximum without making much progress.

    I find it similar to driving to a place far away for the first time, using only a road atlas to guide you. You plan a route in the macro, but you must make micro decisions at every intersection and highway exit to actually get there, and navigate around traffic and road construction as needed.

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  • David Phdcmsdengl@mas.to
    Sep 28, 2026, 10:37 AM

    @drahardja

    "EV cars are not the solution to global warming. We need to move to zero cars. And heat our houses using a treadmill!"

    I've muted people for this crap.

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  • arclightarclight@oldbytes.space
    Oct 2, 2026, 12:24 PM

    @cmsdengl @drahardja (scoffs) "_Treadmills_? Clearly the only real solution is to _smash capitalism!_"

    Seriously. "Because Capitalism" is a tiresome thought ender to justify doing nothing. How about we reduce the symptoms until we devise a cure? No? Because that sounds like work and requires more thought and creativity than just telling people to _smash capitalism_?

    Absolutely mute-able.

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  • VANTABlackVANTABlack2000@mastodon.gamedev.place
    Oct 2, 2026, 4:14 AM

    @drahardja Yeah at the very least add a but. Like "It won't solve the entire problem, BUT it's a step in the right direction" just saying it won't solve the entire problem, so you curl up and die without fixing it does no one any good.

    Unless they can propose a solution to the problem that DOES fix the entire problem then no point in dismissing progress.

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  • Andrew (making toys)ajroach42@retro.social
    Oct 2, 2026, 3:43 PM

    @drahardja

    > My sad friend, I know you’re dispirited and discouraged. But don’t spread your shit on other people’s optimism.

    I feel like I have to borrow this line.

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  • Captain Buttoncptbutton@dice.camp
    Oct 2, 2026, 5:16 PM

    @drahardja

    A lot of time this seems to be because they have their preferred solution to the problem and feel anything else that ameliorates the problem interferes with getting their preferred solution implemented.

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  • craignicolcraignicol@glasgow.social
    Oct 3, 2026, 9:59 PM

    @drahardja aka "we didn't solve women's rights by giving women the vote"

    Well yeah, but women having the vote forced men to start talking about it.

    Every improvement is a gateway to the next one.

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  • Berslbersl2@furry.engineer
    Oct 4, 2026, 10:20 AM

    @drahardja On the occasions I have done this, my fears are that:

    1. Addressing one aspect of the problem will reinforce subsequent disinterest in following up on other aspects of the problem in enough people.

    2. The messaging that the action being proposed is only a first step will be lost on simplistic supporters and may be corrupted by opposed interests, intensifying post-change reactionary discontent.

    3. Also, I know I have a toxic perfectionism trait.

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