The Starfish Theory a nice story and has an important message: you can’t do everything, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do what you can. Or, what you do, even if it only helps one person, makes a world of difference to that person.

To me, the danger of using this story too often is this: what if there were a way to stop all those starfish from ending up on the beach in the first place, but it meant that all of us would have to make some sacrifice or accept a change we might not like, and we wouldn’t get to pat ourselves on the back for throwing them back?

What if people who didn’t mind the starfish but didn’t really care all that much and certainly didn’t want to make any sacrifices on their own were able to avoid making those bigger changes by saying “Look at those people throwing the starfish back – see? Something is being done. We don’t need to make any changes. There are these marvellous humanitarians already on it. The problem will be solved in no time, so we can relax.”

Is there really a solution to stop starfish from washing up on the shore? I think not (though who knows, I could be wrong). Are there possibly solutions to human problems which require major changes and involve others making sacrifices, which people may avoid by citing humanitarin projects? I would say probably yes.

My point is not “don’t bother throwing starfish back” but “keep your mind open to different possible consequences, and don’t just accept that any form of help is necessarily the best.”