Whenever the words, “means” and “end” are used in the same sentence, the first thought tends to be a quote from Machiavelli, “The end justifies the means.” Introduction of this quote usually leads us down a philosophical discussion on ethics which is interesting and all, but since I’m learning that the differences between individual psyches interest me more than philosophies which aim to arbiter between truth and falsehood or right and wrong, let’s look at this through a psychological lens: How can one mistake the means for the end and what can we expect as a result?1
Before we begin, let’s clarify the difference between the means and end. The end refers to an ideal or goal you aspire to while the means describes how you get there. Let’s say you want to have more freedom to work on your creative passions - this is your end. Your means to reach this destination can vary: You could focus on earning money from a creative side project so it can eventually replace your job. Or you could focus time on your career and investments now so you can become financially independent later. Perhaps you simply prioritize your time more wisely or choose to wake up an hour earlier to carve out time for your creative passions.
Means can cover the full spectrum, but danger lurks when you become enamored by means like chasing money for the sake of chasing money. As discussed in a previous essay, this can happen when you use a metric of the means as a proxy for progress towards your end. There is nothing inherently wrong with this approach since not every end is measurable and it can be difficult to feel a sense of progress without occasionally looking at something measurable. Again, the danger arises when you mistake the means for the end. For example, if you define your end as more time spent on your creative hobbies and financial independence is your means to this destination, you may find yourself drifting into a lustful relationship with the number in your bank account instead of the total time spent on your hobbies. You become lost.
As discussed in The Three Body Problem of the Mind, we have three major desires pulling us, sometimes in conflicting directions: 1) Enjoy hedonistic pleasure 2) Fulfill our duty towards others 3) Live up to the greatest possible version of ourselves. Let’s start with these fundamental desires to see where we might find a disconnect between the means and the end.
Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure. It looks like leisure and feels like the carefree enjoyment of the present moment. It sounds like self-care and echoes within the advice to “just be yourself.” It is embodied by the free-spirited individual that does whatever he pleases whenever he feels so inclined.
Disconnect between the means and ends associated with hedonism can occur one of two ways:
Masochism
Pleasure Paradox
Masochism refers to an overcommitment to the end, a strong bias for the end over the means. It is one of the pitfalls of the “By any means necessary” mindset - where one becomes so fixated on his end that he accepts any means to get there, even objectively shitty means. It looks like $5m invested in the stock market yet living in abject poverty to reach an end goal of a $10m net worth. It could also be viewed as delayed gratification to a fault - where the masochist denies himself any pleasure until a goal is realized. The masochist becomes misery incarnate because he doesn’t fulfill his basic desire for pleasure, drawing pleasure from any room he enters.
In light of this, we may decide to pursue pleasure. Yet a paradox arises when pleasure becomes a focal point or end: we find ourselves less satisfied than our counterparts who have a separate end and allow pleasure to arise through the means. The chase of pleasure can lead one down a path of addiction and broken relationships. Fun and pleasure are natural buy-products of a mind or body at play, they cannot be willed or engineered into existence. Chasing pleasure is like trying to be cool. The person who tries to be cool is labeled a poser or a try-hard while the person perceived as cool lets it arise as a natural buy-product of their day-to-day actions. Both coolness and pleasure should be reached through the means rather than viewed as an end. Instead of optimizing your life for pleasure, consider a different end and let yourself have fun on your way to that destination.
The second objective pulling us - duty - is the pursuit of bettering others. It is the parent that sacrifices their hobbies to ensure their child can live a beautiful life. It’s your friend who drops everything when you ask for help or a commitment towards one’s community without any expectation of a return or self-interested motives. In short, it is synonymous with compassion or love.
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NKJV
A disconnect from your duty towards others can stem from the same “By any means necessary” mindset we previously discussed - when your end supersedes your duty to others and you accept ethically dubious means. This disconnect can be particularly difficult to recognize since your brain tends to be exceptionally talented at rationalizing selfishness. It’s also difficult to diagnose a right or wrong answer to the age-old question of whether the end justifies the means. We briefly tossed the ambiguity of this question around in Alarmism and its Discontents when we discussed an executive who pollutes the environment to maximize today’s profits, but directs those funds towards tomorrow’s technology that eliminates human suffering.
This essay isn’t intended to prescribe what constitutes a disconnect from duty since 1) it is difficult to agree on what this means and 2) it is difficult to ascertain the intentions behind people’s behaviors. We are merely recognizing that when your means and/or end become disconnected from your duty towards others, you may become lost in your journey.
Thirdly, individuation is synonymous with the peak of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Self-actualization or self-mastery. It is the pursuit of fulfilling your potential as a human being and it frequently resembles ambition towards the future. On a simple front, you may feel lost if your end does not include a better version of yourself. If you pursue money for the sake of hedonistic desire, you may find life disorienting and dissatisfying; however, if money enables you to better pursue a self-actualizing activity, you may find a clearer path.
The last form of disconnect can apply to any of these three pulls: when your means are incoherent with your end. In other words, your day to day activities do not bring you pleasure in the near or long term, support your individuation process, nor do they help others. Or perhaps an incremental goal (i.e. means) does not align with your end goal. For example, you may be working towards a management position at your employer, yet you find that you are most effective and satisfied when deeply engaged in technical work. How would pursuing this management position put you in a place to better serve others or grow into the best version of yourself? It might just be a disconnect between your means and end.
A good barometer for means aligned with your end is whether you feel a Three Body Problem - or seemingly unpredictable gravitational pulls from these desires - waging within yourself. If so, you may need to diagnose the disconnect. If such a Three Body Problem wages long enough, it may slingshot you around the desires in a manic manner or may leave you orbiting one of the Three Bodies in a death spiral of addiction, masochism, or helplessness. Inhabitants of any of these destinations could be described as lost.
If addiction is pleasure seeking to a fault, it may not be a surprise that many find a personal renaissance through religion. Almost every religion directly orders us to serve others and honor our Maker - an indirect demand to live up to our potential. Organized religion could be described as a pre-packaged teaching that reprograms individuals towards more fulfilling means and ends - so long as they don’t become zealots that mistake the forest for the trees. Religion isn’t the only option for those feeling lost - there’s a million means to the same end.
Personal Self-Reflection:
I did some self-reflection and mapped out my means and ends to help myself gain clarity. It led to some interesting observations - perhaps you’ll find them useful as well!
Key observations:
This diagram is overly simplistic. Nuance exists as my med device career is a means to my duty to all, investing is a means to self-mastery, and hobbies serve as means to an improved career. I could have gone deeper and mapped out each hobby as well. Duty to kin could probably feed into duty to all - serving my family enables them to better serve others
I have selected means that are fun to me. I find my hobbies (skiing, hiking, camping, and writing) fun! I pursue real estate Investing since it interests me and a career that feels satisfying. Your personal interests and sources of satisfaction should shape your path
Means will lead to intermediate goals which ultimately serve as means to a final end goal
All roads lead to duty. Consider what is on the end of your map.
The answer to most philosophical questions like “Does the end justify the means?” can be distilled down to a simple answer: It depends.