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The last finite resource

This essay collects my thoughts on the idea of impact as the “last finite resource” in a world of abundance, where machines satisfy all other human needs.

I spend each winter break pondering the year ahead: reflecting on what I truly value, defining goals that align with those values, and identifying appropriate ways to engage with the broader world in pursuit of those goals. Each year the exercise yields some new insight.

Impact

In recent years, I’ve found impact to be among my most important values, more so than earlier in my life. I define impact as “the number of human brain states changed and by what degree”—meaning alterations in how other people think, feel, and understand the world. While it sounds stark when stated so plainly, it seems to describe a universal human need.

Impact has two dimensions: breadth and depth—the number of people affected and the extent to which they’re affected. Parents create impact through profound changes on a small number of children. Pop stars achieve impact differently, through lighter but broader influence on massive audiences.

Different people seek different flavors of impact based on their psychological makeup. Some crave belonging, others power. Some seek love, status, validation, feedback, or respect. Some aspire to broad social impact, others prefer impact within intimate communities. Some want to leave a legacy with lasting contributions to future generations.

I make no judgment on the particulars. What I’ve observed is that (1) most everyone wants impact in some form, and (2) if you squint, these are all manifestations of the same underlying desire: changes to the experiences of other humans.

Consider the football coach building a championship team, the stay-at-home parent nurturing a loving family, the author crafting a novel to shift public discourse, or the director who continues creating long past retirement age. Impact drives them all.

Vocation

A meaningful vocation often serves as an important path to impact. For me, software engineering has been a good fit: I enjoy building things, computer programming, mentoring and team building, creating structure through domain modeling and operational processes.

Earlier in my career, I did not think much about impact. I sought out the pleasures of programming, working with smart colleagues, learning interesting new domains, and just making an honest living. I wanted to master the craft like a fine woodworking apprentice—cultivating valuable skills, creating great work for its own sake.

These days I find myself more attuned to impact than other rewards. Perhaps this is just a progression up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Perhaps it is mimetic desire absorbed after enough time in the tech industry.

Regardless, I am grateful to have inadvertently chosen what has become a high-impact field. As my preference for impact has increased over the years, I’ve been able to shift how I allocate my time at work to focus less on craft and more on impact. So far it’s satisfying my preference.

Automation

But ChatGPT’s emergence highlighted the possibility that my vocation might not exist forever, at least not in its current form. And with it, a major path to impact could disappear. Not immediately, but perhaps before I would have otherwise retired.

I use Copilot and LLMs regularly for work and play. They’re wonderful tools, mostly complementary to my labor for now. The trend, however, is clear. Eventually they’ll perform my current job better than I can. So I ask myself: what would my life look like if my vocation was fully automated away?

Looking ahead

Technology has always reshaped labor markets, replacing some jobs while creating others. Blacksmiths, horse trainers, and coal miners gave way to factory engineers, solar panel installers, and content creators. This time feels different though: there will come a point when machines can replace human labor across almost all sectors.

In such a future, I expect impact to become the primary human pursuit. All other human needs will be provided for by machines. We see early signs among the generationally wealthy and new tech titans, who already live in a world of abundance. Rather than play videogames all day, many of them gravitate toward art, academia, politics, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy—fields that offer impact.

But our collective capacity to be meaningfully influenced is fundamentally finite. Eight billion people, each with 24 hours a day and limited cognitive bandwidth. As more people are unshackled from their jobs to pursue impact directly, and as AI’s ability to generate appealing stimulation improves, the competition for impact will intensify. Social media already exhibits these dynamics, with creators chasing attention in an increasingly crowded market. I suspect this offers a preview of what’s coming for the broader economy.

Preparing

So I wrestle with these questions: How can I prepare for an automated future? What forms of impact will remain uniquely human? How can I pursue impact in a way that honors its importance while also acknowledging my inability to control the outcome of my pursuit?

A few perspectives have helped:

First, the Buddhist principle of non-attachment. By focusing on process rather than results, I find meaning in writing, teaching, building, and connecting as expressions of what I care about, rather than just steps toward future impact.

Second, doubling down on personal relationships. The pursuit of impact doesn’t require a public stage; close connections with family and friends offer their own rewards. There’s something uniquely gratifying in the reciprocal attention shared in intimate relationships—something no machine can replicate.

Third, good old diversification. Software engineering is just one arena for impact. Last year I started teaching yoga, something less prone to automation. This year I hope to write and publish more, if only for myself and a few friends.

And finally, an abundance mindset. While the competition for impact will increase, eight billion people is a vast number. Opportunity awaits–there are many paths.

Inspiration