Generalisation abilities suggests that behaviour is goal directed beucase it demonstrates adaptability (and goals are more adatable/​compact ways of defining behaviour than others, like enumeration)
Powergrabs suggest that behaviour is goal directed beucase it reveals instrumentalism
Our understanding of intelligence migth be limited to human intelligence which is sometime goal directed so we use this a proxy of intelligence (adding some, perhaps unrefutable, skepticism of goal directness as a model of intelligence)
My rough mental summary of these intuitions
Generalisation abilities suggests that behaviour is goal directed beucase it demonstrates adaptability (and goals are more adatable/​compact ways of defining behaviour than others, like enumeration)
Powergrabs suggest that behaviour is goal directed beucase it reveals instrumentalism
Our understanding of intelligence migth be limited to human intelligence which is sometime goal directed so we use this a proxy of intelligence (adding some, perhaps unrefutable, skepticism of goal directness as a model of intelligence)