I don’t think you’re being thickheaded. I think you’re right. Human beings are so trajectory-dependent it’s a cliché. “Live is not about the destination. Life is about the friends we made along the way.”
Hah, I used exactly the same example (including pointing out how it’s even a cliché) to distinguish between two types of “preferences” in a metaethics post I’m working on!
I also haven’t found a great way to frame all this.
My work in progress (I initially called them “journey-based” and changed to “trajectory-based” once I saw this Lesswrong post here):
Outcome-focused vs. trajectory-based. Having an outcome-focused life goal means to care about optimizing desired or undesired “outcomes” (measured in, e.g., days of happiness or suffering). However, life goals don’t have to be outcome-focused. I’m introducing the term “trajectory-based life goals” for an alternative way of deeply caring. The defining feature for trajectory-based life goals is that they are (at least partly) about the journey (“trajectory”).
Trajectory-based life goals (discussion)
Adopting an optimization mindset toward a specific outcome inevitably leads to a kind of instrumentalization of everything “near term.” For example, suppose your life goal is about maximizing the number of happy days. In that case, the rational way to go about it implies treating the next decades of your life as “instrumental only.” On a first approximation, the only thing that matters is optimizing the chances of obtaining indefinite life-extension (leading to more happy days, potentially). Through adopting an outcome-focused optimizing mindset, seemingly self-oriented concerns such as wanting to maximize the number of happy days almost turn into an other-regarding endeavor. After all, only one’s future self gets to enjoy the benefits.
Trajectory-based life goals provide an alternative. In trajectory-based life goals, the optimizing mindset targets maintaining a state we consider maximally meaningful. Perhaps[I say “perhaps” to reflect that trajectory-based life goals may not be the best description of what I’m trying to point at. I’m confident that there’s something interesting in the vicinity of what I’m describing, but I’m not entirely sure whether I’ve managed to tell exactly where the lines are with which to carve reality at its joints.] that state could be defined in terms of character cultivation, adhering to a particular role or ideal.
For example, the Greek hero Achilles arguably had “being the bravest warrior” as a trajectory-based life goal. Instead of explicitly planning which type of fighting he should engage in to shape his legacy, Achilles would jump into any battle without hesitation. If he had an outcome-focused optimizing mindset, that behavior wouldn’t make sense. To optimize the chances of acquiring fame, Achilles would have to be reasonably confident to survive enough battles to make a name for himself. While there’s something to be gained from taking extraordinary risks, he’d at least want to think about it for a minute or two. However, suppose we model Achilles as having in his mind an image of “the bravest warrior” whose behavior he’s trying to approximate. In that case, it becomes obvious why “Contemplate whether a given fight is worth the risk” isn’t something he’d ever do.
Other examples of trajectory-based life goals include being a good partner or a good parent. While these contain outcome-focused elements like taking care of the needs of one’s significant other or one’s children, the idea isn’t so much about scoring lots of points on some metric. Instead, being a good partner or parent involves living up to some normative ideal, day to day.
Someone whose normative ideal is “lazy person with akrasia” doesn’t qualify as having a life goal. Accordingly, there’s a connection from trajectory-based to outcome-focused life goals: The normative ideal or “role model” in someone’s trajectory-based life goal has to care about real-world objectives (i.e., “objectives outside of the role model’s thoughts”).
Hah, I used exactly the same example (including pointing out how it’s even a cliché) to distinguish between two types of “preferences” in a metaethics post I’m working on!
I also haven’t found a great way to frame all this.
My work in progress (I initially called them “journey-based” and changed to “trajectory-based” once I saw this Lesswrong post here):
Outcome-focused vs. trajectory-based. Having an outcome-focused life goal means to care about optimizing desired or undesired “outcomes” (measured in, e.g., days of happiness or suffering). However, life goals don’t have to be outcome-focused. I’m introducing the term “trajectory-based life goals” for an alternative way of deeply caring. The defining feature for trajectory-based life goals is that they are (at least partly) about the journey (“trajectory”).
Trajectory-based life goals (discussion)
Adopting an optimization mindset toward a specific outcome inevitably leads to a kind of instrumentalization of everything “near term.” For example, suppose your life goal is about maximizing the number of happy days. In that case, the rational way to go about it implies treating the next decades of your life as “instrumental only.” On a first approximation, the only thing that matters is optimizing the chances of obtaining indefinite life-extension (leading to more happy days, potentially). Through adopting an outcome-focused optimizing mindset, seemingly self-oriented concerns such as wanting to maximize the number of happy days almost turn into an other-regarding endeavor. After all, only one’s future self gets to enjoy the benefits.
Trajectory-based life goals provide an alternative. In trajectory-based life goals, the optimizing mindset targets maintaining a state we consider maximally meaningful. Perhaps[I say “perhaps” to reflect that trajectory-based life goals may not be the best description of what I’m trying to point at. I’m confident that there’s something interesting in the vicinity of what I’m describing, but I’m not entirely sure whether I’ve managed to tell exactly where the lines are with which to carve reality at its joints.] that state could be defined in terms of character cultivation, adhering to a particular role or ideal.
For example, the Greek hero Achilles arguably had “being the bravest warrior” as a trajectory-based life goal. Instead of explicitly planning which type of fighting he should engage in to shape his legacy, Achilles would jump into any battle without hesitation. If he had an outcome-focused optimizing mindset, that behavior wouldn’t make sense. To optimize the chances of acquiring fame, Achilles would have to be reasonably confident to survive enough battles to make a name for himself. While there’s something to be gained from taking extraordinary risks, he’d at least want to think about it for a minute or two. However, suppose we model Achilles as having in his mind an image of “the bravest warrior” whose behavior he’s trying to approximate. In that case, it becomes obvious why “Contemplate whether a given fight is worth the risk” isn’t something he’d ever do.
Other examples of trajectory-based life goals include being a good partner or a good parent. While these contain outcome-focused elements like taking care of the needs of one’s significant other or one’s children, the idea isn’t so much about scoring lots of points on some metric. Instead, being a good partner or parent involves living up to some normative ideal, day to day.
Someone whose normative ideal is “lazy person with akrasia” doesn’t qualify as having a life goal. Accordingly, there’s a connection from trajectory-based to outcome-focused life goals: The normative ideal or “role model” in someone’s trajectory-based life goal has to care about real-world objectives (i.e., “objectives outside of the role model’s thoughts”).