I think you really hit the nail on the head here. We really do, almost all of us in this modern tech world, have an order of magnitude more leverage in our day-to-day activities than the previous generation did. We have a theoretical (though very uncertain) capability of making a marked difference to a chunk of the world (e.g. affecting thousands of people) by putting in an extra hour of work, often without necessitating the involvement of anyone else. To paraphrase uncle Ben, this great power can then put a heavy personal responsibility on our shoulders, even if there isn't a pointy-haired boss breathing down our neck.
I think you really hit the nail on the head here. We really do, almost all of us in this modern tech world, have an order of magnitude more leverage in our day-to-day activities than the previous generation did. We have a theoretical (though very uncertain) capability of making a marked difference to a chunk of the world (e.g. affecting thousands of people) by putting in an extra hour of work, often without necessitating the involvement of anyone else. To paraphrase uncle Ben, this great power can then put a heavy personal responsibility on our shoulders, even if there isn't a pointy-haired boss breathing down our neck.