Goals

In class, when we were discussing why humans aren’t necessarily inclined to meet their goals, I was reminded of the Unbearable Lightness of Being, and how the “light” characters don’t necessarily hold themselves to standards that would elicit any kind of goal setting. This thought naturally brought rise to the question of whether or not that is the most advantageous way of looking at life.

Well, Dostoyevsky might argue that goals impinge on free will, because you restrict yourself to the achievement of a singular objective, rather than having the mobility to focus on whatever you want. This is probably how the light characters would see goals: a solitary matter of futility that ultimately just acts to tether your desires. 

On the other hand, those people who are determined to quantify the value of their life might find goals to their advantage. Achievements always have a magnitude, and therefore it is easy to justify ourselves by tallying our accomplishments. To some people, that number may be their “advantage,” although Dostoyevsky might oppose this idea, seeing again the impingement of concrete law into the irresolute nature of life. 

As Kundera describes in the Unbearable Lightness, neither answer is necessarily correct, but rather a preference of outlook.