One thing that often trips people up when they start thinking about what they want is that they often don’t think about the difference between something being instrumentally valuable and it being intrinsically valuable. Yes, this is a distinction that a philosopher would make, but it can make a huge difference in how we choose our path to happiness.
When something is intrinsically valuable, it is valuable independently of anything else. When something is instrumentally valuable, it is only valuable because it gets you something else. Take the difference between true happiness and money; the latter is only valuable because it gets you other things, whereas true happiness is valuable on its own.
One way to distinguish between the two is to notice when there’s a because or in order to relationship in the things you want. Whenever you spot this type of relationships in ideas, the thing you want because it gets you something else is the thing that is instrumentally valuable, and it’s pretty normal to have a nested chain of instrumentally valuable goals before you get to an intrinsic one.
For example, let’s say you want a promotion at work. The reason you want to be promoted is so that you’ll have more influence and money, and more influence and money give you more freedom and possibilities, and more freedom and possibilities make you happier. Like most philosophers, I believe that happiness – the flourishing kind, not the ephemeral kind – is the intrinsic value we all want.
So, What’s The Point?
So many of us set up a nested chain of wants and desires, and clinging to those chains prevent us from seeing that there may be an easier way to get what we want. If we understand that our true goal is to be happy, we might be more open to opportunities that get us straight to happy.
What often happens, though, is that the further removed the instrumental goal is from the intrinsic goal, the harder it is for it to have the real benefit we seek. Taking the promotion example, the unintended outcomes of taking that promotion is increased responsibility and possibly more time required to excel at the role. These outcomes can actually be counter-productive to getting the end goal of happiness, and an easier option may have been to volunteer at a homeless shelter one Saturday per month.
Yes, this is counter-intuitive, but those huge chains are the reason why so many people end up with convertibles and cosmetic enhancements. The chains we think would make us happy can quickly become the ones that bind us to realities we don’t want.
Of course, one of the challenges with this is that we spend so much time thinking about what other people think we should do, want, and be that we fail to take seriously the idea that our happiness counts. People expect you to take that promotion, launch that product, take that big step, or whatever seems to be the thing you should do, and they don’t understand it when you choose a simpler option that makes you happier.
The fact that they don’t understand your choices doesn’t make them any less of your choice, though. If you choose to play the social expectations game, remember that even if you win, it’s unlikely that you’ll be happy. Social rewards rarely track our inner desires. (Tweet this.)
Think about some of the things you want or desire. Why do you want or desire those things? Is there a way you can get straight to happy than working through all those nested chains?
Great post! I’ve been thinking a lot about the concepts you’re talking about here. I used to think that I wanted to be a therapist, so I got my master’s degree in social work and started counseling at-risk adolescents. After a few years, I realized how emotionally draining the job was and it was actually making me physically sick. I didn’t see those things coming.
When I really boiled it down to what I really wanted, I realized that I wanted to help people in a creative way that would also fulfill me. Now, that’s what I’m doing, and I have so much more energy. If I’d only thought of that sooner, I could have saved a lot of money on student loans….
I like how you clarify the difference between intrinsic and instrumental.
We get caught up in the instrumental, the big if/then. If I get this, then I’ll be happy. If I do this, it’ll cause this, which will cause happy.
That’s future thinking, eh? and it’s hard to be happy now, if we’re doing things for then, which in the future, we may not even want.
Great post, Charlie Gilkey!
Fantastic concept. The trick is burrowing down and finding that intrinsic benefit, and knowing if you’re going to be satisfied with the destination.
You know how sometimes you already kind of know something, but then you learn the right vocabulary and it makes all the difference? That’s exactly how I feel about this post.
I so needed the shorthand for describing, even to myself, the difference between something that is happy-making in and of itself, versus something that’s simply a means to a (happiness) end. Thank you!
Excellent distinction! And I really like what Briana said above: “happy-making in and of itself.” But I also believe that happiness is produced by one’s own mind, not external circumstances.
I like the way you make us think. I value and appreciate that.
Charlie – Loved the way you laid this out. Have never heard this distinction in quite this way intrinsic vs. instrumental. I love to look deep into words, what they mean and what they allow for, so this post really gave me something to think about, and probably some good fodder for my own writing. Thanks for all you do. You are one of my #1 blog heroes!
My 12 points to happiness are:
1. Allow yourself to make mistakes.
2. Know that you deserve happiness.
3. Keep it simple.
4. Understand what makes you happy, experiment.
5. Once you know what makes you happy (at both home and work) make a plan to increase your chances of doing these activities.
6. Choose your friends wisely.
7. Count your blessings.
8. Exercise to maintain your health.
9. Instead of thinking about problems, think about solutions.
10. Take time each day to give yourself a treat.
11. Have a laugh.
12. Subconciously we often want things or people to change which are outside of our control, a sure way of being unhappy.
Loved reading this, Charlie. Thanks so much for pointing this out so eloquently! 🙂
I recently quit my job to look after my kid. Though I was happy with my work, I had to make a decision on whether I wanted to become the boss or be there for my son during the formative years. And you know what, it was an easy decision. 🙂 Happiness is simply a form of courage. Let me share with you an interesting read on Discovering True Happiness Within You. Hope you’ll like it.
Nice recycling of this basic value distinction. 😉 It’s mind-blowing, occasionally, to have it dawn on me that some people haven’t read the Republic or Utilitarianism or the Groundwork or any number of texts where this would come up. The more links in your causal chain, the more nebulous the concept of your happiness is going to seem.
My cut-the-bullshit choice was to drop out of my philosophy PhD program, actually… I regret it from time to time — but I more regret that I wasn’t that person for whom the opportunity would have been a great one. Choosing not to engage with this particular ivory tower probably kept my bleeding feminist heart sane, though. My heart wasn’t in the academy, nor did I have quite enough rigor or patience to be teaching even an introductory class.
I’ve been ruminating on what a lowly philosophy BA described as writing “Faulknerian” prose (not a compliment!) could bring to the online business table, and it makes me wonder why I didn’t go straight for applied ethics to begin with. Spice up some anatta with some phronesis, and maybe I don’t have to agonize over not finishing my PhD as you have. 🙂
Was all your ethics/social/political ancient, or did you have a different focus for political?
Great article Charlie…
In the actor Kirk Douglas’ book ”˜My Stroke Of Luck’, where he recounts his battle and victory over a stroke, he shares the following powerful truth:
”˜The world is filled with people who have suffered from one misfortune or another. The only thing that sets one apart from the rest is the desire and the attempt to help others. People who reach out beyond their pain, out into the world in a trusting way – they are the ones who make a difference. Nietzsche said, ”˜He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.’
Beautifully and powerfully said. Thank you.