January 28, 2010

I read A Brief History of Time back in junior high

Back in junior high, I read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, and was inspired by his vivid description of this splendid universe we lived in. It opened up the world of philosophy to me. By then I began thinking, why we, as individuals, existed in this world? (Or did we exist at all, which was a epistemological topic I discussed frequently in my high school essays.) If I had never been born, would this world be different in the slightest? If not, why was I still breathing and talking and laughing? Since then, I made my mind that, whatever would I choose as a career, I had to make a difference to this world; I had to leave my trace after I would pass away one day, to make my life meaningful. This also contributed to my aim at becoming an economist, as I believe economics is the study that can make all on this planet better off, to save thousands of people from poverty and diseases, and to leave a heritage to future generations.

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