Every choice we make has an impact on the world around us. Sometimes that impact is very small, but it is still real. For example, we live on a planet with a limited amount of clean drinking water. This can make me wonder if using a service like ChatGPT uses resources that contribute, in even a tiny way, to water shortages in the future.

I also think about the things I buy. If I wear a T-shirt made in Malaysia, does that support unsafe working conditions or child labour? If someone is harmed in a factory that makes these clothes, do my purchases make me partly responsible?

These thoughts lead to a difficult question: if I am responsible for even a small part of many harms, such as being 0.001 percent responsible for the deaths of 1000 people through many small everyday actions, does that mean I have caused a death simply by living my life?

I wonder if it's my autism that makes me consider these things because to me it seems no one else does.