
Ask HN: How to become a driver of climatic and social change? - Igrom
Dear HackerNews,<p>I am in a rut and don&#x27;t know which step to take.<p>My background is liberal arts in Polish literature and history. I have got a baccalaureaute in these and am pursing a master&#x27;s degree, having once wanted to become a diplomat or a curator.<p>While initially single-minded in my passion, in recent years I have become more invested in a variety of social issues: social inequalities (regional, racial, religious), helping domestic violence victims, improving education and securing humanitarian aid. Among those, climate change and combating it have become my primary field of interest.<p>I might not make a good biologist or an engineer, but I have shown promise in activism. I have co-founded and run a local youth organization. I have participated in a UN HRC session (3 weeks), as well as in last year&#x27;s UN Climate Change Conference in Poland, thanks to an NGO with which I collaborated: thus I know of that work environment. I also have partial command of law. In light of these, I would not mind becoming an ecological activist, or for my career to have elements of that.<p>Problem is, I am lost. I feel that I don&#x27;t know what is out there, nor do I have anyone to ask for directions.<p>In particular, I am at a loss in these areas:<p>1. What are the ways in which one can make a meaningful impact (realistically, not idealistically)?<p>2. What background is needed to get involved in that? I am ready to return to university. Which schools or majors are the most suitable?<p>3. What people do you know who are involved whom I can ask or whose impressive example I could follow?<p>4. Which people or institutions can I ask for further guidance?<p>All input and opinion appreciated. Assume all country, language, money requirements met.<p>Background information: 25 years old, female, Polish. Lives in Zürich. Knows Polish, English, French, Italian. Fledgling interest in data science.<p>Best regards,
Marta Szameto &lt;marta.szameto@gmail.com&gt;
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lacbuddah
Marta, You're looking outside yourself for too many answers.

Just live life and have experiences with the thought that "I'm going to let
life teach me about myself". You don't need more schooling but you do need to
put in work at hobbies, a job (you don't need to love the first thing that
comes around. There's always another job), personal relationships on all
levels (friendly, acquaintance and intimate).

If the above is too ethereal for you, find solace that everyone's lost at 25
(and many are beyond that). You just don't have enough time in to LIFE. Keep
doing things until you find the VERY FEW that cause you to find yourself.

Good luck.

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saaaaaam
This may be a good starting point:

[https://80000hours.org/](https://80000hours.org/)

~~~
maxander
I strongly second this- its a well-studied and well-resourced organization
that has spent most of a decade investigating the precise kind of question
you're asking (namely, how one can best position oneself in life to have a
positive impact on the world.)

In particular, they're very clear that there are a large number of possible
areas to aim at that all offer the chance to make a big difference, and that
there are a wide range of skillsets that can be applied in various ways (you
don't have to go back to school and become an engineer.)

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abdullahkhalids
Its great that you want to be a force of betterment in the world. There are
many different kinds of ecological activists, but whats important is that you
become the one where your daily life consists of activities you enjoy.
Otherwise, you will get burned out soon.

The most straightforward way is to look up NGOs (others have posted links) and
try to see if you can get a job with the one that seems exciting to you.
Change is always brought about by acting in groups, so joining or creating an
organization is the best way.

My answer to your question 1 is as follows. You are probably too small to make
meaningful impact on a global scale - no one is. This is a task for
governments. But you can make impact on a local scale. People often forget
that there are many many things you can do at the city level to create
sustainable living patterns. You can join or create organizations that are
trying to fix your local problems. One interesting thing that someone with
your background could do is to use art to drive social change. I know a
excellent organization in my city that does community theater activities to
educate and impact people, and you can definitely see the positive effect they
have in the communities and areas they work in.

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uberman
Have you looked at:

[https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=330&langId=en](https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=330&langId=en)

[https://www.wango.org/resources.aspx?section=ngodir](https://www.wango.org/resources.aspx?section=ngodir)

[https://www.ongood.ngo/info/resources/25-must-follow-ngos-
in...](https://www.ongood.ngo/info/resources/25-must-follow-ngos-in-europe)

------
provolone
Be the change you want to see. You can only control your own actions. There's
no futility in that.

Look towards yourself instead of institutions.

[http://thetaoteching.com/taoteching17.html](http://thetaoteching.com/taoteching17.html)

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robomartin
Marta, I need to be blunt here. And I realize that sometimes being direct with
a female these days is politically incorrect. So be it.

Your background is such that you are far more likely to be used by climate
change zealots. Which means you are likely to unwittingly engage in spreading
lies and non-solutions.

If you really want to help humanity in some of these domains you have to have
enough of a scientific background to be able to understand the subject well as
well as to separate science from religion.

The good news is: You can acquire this knowledge. If you are serious about
this, shift your focus towards studying science. The rest should follow
naturally due to your passion.

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JSeymourATL
FIRST ACTION: Obstacles, identify everything that is standing in the way.

Obstacles become the raw material for achieving your goals.

ON this subject, Dan Sullivan is brilliant >
[https://www.33voices.com/interviews/the-way-to-defeat-
your-o...](https://www.33voices.com/interviews/the-way-to-defeat-your-
obstacles)

------
hhmartin
Here is a startup incubator that focuses on activist companies. Maybe one of
their startups would be a good place to work?

[https://www.highergroundlabs.com/about-
us](https://www.highergroundlabs.com/about-us)

You could also consider running for office. There are several organizations
now helping novices run for public office from local level to national.

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sergiotapia
Climatic, there is nothing you can do. The vast majority of pollution comes
from corporations, not individuals. Try to rally a change in laws, but don't
focus your efforts on changing individual people's habits, it's a drop in the
bucket.

~~~
ntlk
I understand the sentiment, but there is still a lot an individual could do.
Use green energy, fly less, etc. These things all create relevant market
pressures.

For example: five years ago it was hard to find more than a single vegan meal
option at any given London food place. Fast forward to today, and tons of
places have dedicated vegan menus or multiple choices, because of the increase
in people willing to pay for them.

I’m not saying it’s a silver bullet, but these things do count, and sometimes
changes driven by economic pressures happen very quickly.

~~~
username90
Do you honestly believe it is possible to solve this from the consumer side?
We can't even make people stop eating themselves to death! You might get a
small fraction to consume less but that wont save the environment. "Every
little bit counts", no it really doesn't, it might buy us a few years and let
the rest pollute even more before things are so bad that we start enforcing
laws to stop them but ultimately those laws will be there, so all you achieved
was making life a bit cushier for people who don't care.

~~~
ntlk
No, on its own these things aren’t a solution, but collectively we are able to
add to pressures on businesses to adapt their behaviours.

