I’ve crossed paths with many a confused person who (without any explicit thought on their part) had really silly terminal goals. We’ve all met people who are acting as if “Acquire Money” is a terminal goal, never noticing that money is almost entirely instrumental in nature. When you ask them “but what would you do if money was no issue and you had a lot of time”, all you get is a blank stare.
I’m incapable of comprehending this mental state. If I didn’t see so much evidence all around me that there are lots and lots of people who seem to just want money as an end in itself, just for the sake of having it, I don’t think I could believe that anyone could possibly seriously think that way. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had much money, but I have tons of ideas for what I’d do if money was no object. Most of them are things I already want to do (and have probably wanted to do for a long time), but can’t do because I don’t have the money. Which… to me implies that people who want money as a terminal goal have either never had another goal, or have never had another goal that they haven’t been able to achieve for lack of money. The latter should be a good thing, at least for some people, but just brings me back to the question of what the hell they want money for. If you don’t have any other goals, or you only have goals that don’t require money to achieve, where is this “acquire money” goal even coming from?
See what I mean? I really just can’t wrap my head around it.
I’m incapable of comprehending this mental state. If I didn’t see so much evidence all around me that there are lots and lots of people who seem to just want money as an end in itself, just for the sake of having it, I don’t think I could believe that anyone could possibly seriously think that way. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had much money, but I have tons of ideas for what I’d do if money was no object. Most of them are things I already want to do (and have probably wanted to do for a long time), but can’t do because I don’t have the money. Which… to me implies that people who want money as a terminal goal have either never had another goal, or have never had another goal that they haven’t been able to achieve for lack of money. The latter should be a good thing, at least for some people, but just brings me back to the question of what the hell they want money for. If you don’t have any other goals, or you only have goals that don’t require money to achieve, where is this “acquire money” goal even coming from?
See what I mean? I really just can’t wrap my head around it.