How important is being remembered to you?

[Yojimbo]

I turned 30 in September last year and I been thinking a lot lately about how old I'm getting. I read a lot of history and always think that these people and events happened so long ago and they are still remembered and celebrated millennia or centuries later. Ive been wondering how i can be remembered. Even when it comes to icons like Alexander the Great only he is remembered not many of his soldiers

I think that part of the reason I enjoy writing so much (besides just creating stuff and so on) is that it leaves a part of you behind. Like you put your thoughts in a real world form and even after you leave its still there and others can see and feel your words. Nearly ll my writing relates to gaming and technology, especially since i just got a job as a games journalist. It's hardly stuff that wil echo though history.

Really though in a hundred years anything ive penned now still exist or even be remembered i don't want to just vanish into the dust, a nameless memory. Sure my kids and their kids will come after me but I'm still going to be a name buried in a database somewhere. I want to be a name that people remember for good or ill. I haven't though of a good way to make my mark on the world, but I'm sure ill think of something, if that is i don't pen some masterpiece one day that goes down in history as a book that will never be forgotten.

Is being remembered important to you? if so what steps are you taking to ensure you leave a legacy, besides kids?

[Himster]

It's simple vanity I think.
It's not something that one should dwell on, your legacy doesn't effect you and a lot of effort can very easily be wasted on it: one should simply endeavor to do what they do best to the best of their abilities, indulging in self-aggrandizement can only be a detriment to true endeavors.

[Phier]

It would be nice, but its importance is easy to dismiss intellectually.

If there was an afterlife, then who cares.
If there is not, you won't be able to care.

[SomaaTheLion]

I constantly think about the same thing.. and I'm still 15. But in the end all we are is "dust in the wind".

[Himster]

I constantly think about the same thing.. and I'm still 15. But in the end all we are is "dust in the wind".

لا شيء يدوم
Take a deep breath bro.

[Yojimbo]

It's simple vanity I think.
It's not something that one should dwell on, your legacy doesn't effect you and a lot of effort can very easily be wasted on it: one should simply endeavor to do what they do best to the best of their abilities, indulging in self-aggrandizement can only be a detriment to true endeavors.

I disagree. If it were simple vanity why would statues be built to famous people so they can be remembered? is the lincoln memorial just a pointless waste of stone and a monument to vanity? I don't think there's anything vain about leaving the world different than what it was before your life, in a lasting way.

It would be nice, but its importance is easy to dismiss intellectually.

If there was an afterlife, then who cares.
If there is not, you won't be able to care.

Personally, if there is it would suck seeing everyone forget me. If there's not I still want to go knowing I left my mark.

[Aeneas Veneratio]

Should there be an afterlife, would it really be wise to be famous? You might end up spending eternity signing autographs to the newcomers.

[pacifism]

Should there was an afterlife the newcomers would be able to wait.

[Copperknickers II]

It would be nice, but its importance is easy to dismiss intellectually.

If there was an afterlife, then who cares.
If there is not, you won't be able to care.

Well, that depends if you know what your legacy will be. If I had had a hard life struggling to produce something, or fighting against something, I'd die a lot happier knowing that my efforts would produce admiration and respect even if I didn't live to see it.

[SomaaTheLion]

لا شيء يدوم
Take a deep breath bro.

Indeed Himster may I ask how you knew of this proverb?

[Col. Tartleton]

I kind of like general anonymity. There's something to be said for living relatively quietly.

Don't make too big of a splash, you'll just upset people.

[Cohors_Evocata]

You must also consider the way you are remembered. Extreme example: most of us have have heard of Adolf Hitler. He and his influence on history are likely not going to be forgotten very soon. Yet, is such a legacy one you'd want to leave behind? Does it matter that one is remembered or does it matter why or what for one is remembered? If the first option is correct, the easiest (if one can ignore, shut down or simply lacks morality) way to achieve your goal is probably to commit every possible atrocious act you can imagine and make sure you get a lot of publicity. Success guaranteed. If you believe the second option to be true, you're gonna have to make a lasting positive impression upon society and that's a lot harder to do. Just a point I wanted to bring up.

As for me, I'd like to be remembered, at least by friends and family, but in a positive way. Being remembered isn't worth making the world an even more crappy place in my opinion.

[Himster]

Indeed Himster may I ask how you knew of this proverb?

I taught art to a number of Iranian students, the topic came up while discussing a project I set surrounding a particular poem by Theodore Tilton: http://elfinspell.com/TiltonAllThings.html

[Phier]

You must also consider the way you are remembered. Extreme example: most of us have have heard of Adolf Hitler. He and his influence on history are likely not going to be forgotten very soon. Yet, is such a legacy one you'd want to leave behind? Does it matter that one is remembered or does it matter why or what for one is remembered? If the first option is correct, the easiest (if one can ignore, shut down or simply lacks morality) way to achieve your goal is probably to commit every possible atrocious act you can imagine and make sure you get a lot of publicity. Success guaranteed. If you believe the second option to be true, you're gonna have to make a lasting positive impression upon society and that's a lot harder to do. Just a point I wanted to bring up.

As for me, I'd like to be remembered, at least by friends and family, but in a positive way. Being remembered isn't worth making the world an even more crappy place in my opinion.

Had Hitler won he would be remembered more like Alexander in 2000 years. He gave it his best shot.

[Slydessertfox]

I don't particularly care given I'll be dead.