Career Choices

[dhthomps]

In order to be in control of your life, you have to have a purpose—a productive purpose . . . A central purpose serves to integrate all the other concerns of a man’s life. It establishes the hierarchy, the relative importance, of his values, it saves him from pointless inner conflicts, it permits him to enjoy life on a wide scale and to carry that enjoyment into any area open to his mind; whereas a man without a purpose is lost in chaos.

“Playboy’s Interview with Ayn Rand,” March 1964.

Question:

How do you rationally come across a purpose?

Ramblings of my own:

When asked how they got where they are professionals (any field) have often said "they just wing it", or "it just happened to work out that way". And I consider this a valid response if, at the forks in the road of your life, you made a rational decision about your path/direction.

In Atlas Shrugged, particularly during Dagny's first visit to "The Valley" I got the impression that this point was being made: any career is a good career so long as you desire it, and perform it to the best of your ability.

But where does the desire come from?

I like the conclusion that Ayn Rand has drawn about careers, occupation, success, but I can't piece the premises together.

I prefer answers based on Ayn Rand's non-fictional writings, but references to Atlas Shrugged would help as an example.

Some History: I've read The Fountainhead, Anthem, and Atlas Shrugged twice. I'm familiar with non-fiction works through the Lexicon and online reading of this forum.

Edited June 27, 2008 by dhthomps

[JASKN]

Hola, dhthomps!

How do you rationally come across a purpose?

[...]

But where does the desire come from?

I did a search with the Objectivism CD-ROM, and came across one of Ayn Rand's letters published in Letters of Ayn Rand. As usual, Rand has stated the essential information so eloquently. Here is an excerpt, written to a young admirer:

You asked me if I have any suggestions to give you about the choice of a career. That, as you probably know, is something that no other person can suggest to you. I can only tell you this: don't expect any outside circumstance or observation to give you a desire for a particular career. That desire comes from your own convictions about life, its purpose, what you want to do with it, and in what form you want to express it. When you say, "I want something that can mean to me what your writing means to you"—it seems to imply that you hope to find it just by looking around and waiting to have your interest aroused. You will never find it that way. What you should do is ask yourself what do you consider the most important thing in life, and why? When you have thought that out carefully, the work that you want to do will suggest itself, and also the desire to do it. But you certainly don't have to hurry. When you say, "Why is it taking me so long to find it?" you are really a little too impatient. I think I understand your impatience, and it is natural that you should feel it, but at the age of 16 your choice of a career for life does not really have to be set. There are no rules about this—some men make a choice earlier, some much later, and any age is proper for any particular person. If you have not made your choice, it merely means that you are not quite clear enough about your basic convictions. Since you seem to have an unusual mind, it might take you longer than it would another, simpler person. So I suggest that you think about it, but do not worry too much.

[dhthomps]

Thank you for the response.

Some personal history:

I am working on an undergraduate nuclear engineering degree. Through a bit of work experience I've concluded that engineering is very field specific. I'll rephrase: when you become an HVAC engineer you start down that path, when you become a systems engineer you have ownership over your system. Switching is possible, but something I would rather not do. I don't want to do anything moderately well, therefore I'm trying to make the best rational decision I can at this point in my life to pick a path. Once I start down a path I want to follow it as far as it takes me.

"What you should do is ask yourself what do you consider the most important thing in life, and why?"

Since Rand assumes, correctly, that life is the ultimate goal I will start my list of goals with happiness as the ultimate goal:

Ultimate Value: Happiness, obtained through pure means as defined by objectivism (non-force).

Just by thinking about this post I've come up with other values that are important to me concerning occupation:

-A logical, problem solving career.

-Obliquely uses my engineering degree. (Specifically: becoming a patent lawyer would be an option, but becoming a professional synchronized swimmer is not as it would not use the critical thinking skills of an engineering degree).

-A career where I will be rewarded for hard work.

-A career that I can live for. I want to work long hours, and I want to enjoy it. I don't want my career to support my hobbies, I want it to be the hobby.

This is where I get stuck, and I've been wrestling with this for a while.

My list of values applies to a great deal of careers. How can I take this further?

What's next?

More specifically, what's next when deciding what direction you want to take with your life? What more specific questions do I need to ask myself?

[~Sophia~]

-A career that I can live for. I want to work long hours, and I want to enjoy it. I don't want my career to support my hobbies, I want it to be the hobby.

I think you have said it here. You look for your enjoyment/satisfaction. You have to try things for a fit or as close to it as you can get. Find out what specifically each choice (from among those that meet the criteria you listed above) entails in terms of specific tasks, what actually you would have to be doing. Do you/would you enjoy those activities? Would you be good at it?

Edited June 27, 2008 by ~Sophia~

[JASKN]

You have to try things for a fit or as close to it as you can get.

When I was at your point, dhthomps, where I'd taken the mental work as far as I was able, this was my next step, to "go for it." You will never know 100% if your chosen career is a perfect fit until you're actually doing it. Sometimes there might not be much of a question, as in the case of the skateboarder who has been skating his entire life and still loves to skate, or the doctor who has forever and always been fascinated with people and how bodies work. But, they still have things to consider, like "stage fright" and long working hours, respectively, and they might later change their minds.

The point is, you can't know now what you'll know in ten year's time. If you are at a point where you can honestly advance no further in your mental evaluation, the next step is to take your best choice and go for it.

[JMeganSnow]

You're also not being very specific. Everything you put down (except for the engineering degree, which I do not have) applies to me as well, and I want to be a novelist! (Actually, I'm already a novelist, just not a published one . . . yet.)

I knew that I, specifically, wanted to be a writer because regardless of what else is going on in my life, I always eventually find myself *writing*. I can't help it, it's something that's just permanently stuck in my mind and I'll never get rid of it, nor do I want to. So, look at *your* life and ask yourself, "what do I always find myself doing?" What *thing* do you always find yourself coming back to no matter how many times you may have put it down? Is it digging around in a garden? Driving a car? Swimming? Wiring up little gadgets? Going to the top of skyscrapers?

There are so many things of this nature that I really can't even guess which one would apply to you. However, once you've figured out your "thing" (and don't push it, it may take time as others have already said), *then* you figure out how to apply, say, your engineering degree and your logical problem-solving to it. The hard work thing pertains to *all* careers, ultimately, and if your job is that "thing" you always find yourself picking up again, it *will* be the hobby, as you've said.

[DavidOdden]

Just by thinking about this post I've come up with other values that are important to me concerning occupation:

-A logical, problem solving career.

-Obliquely uses my engineering degree. (Specifically: becoming a patent lawyer would be an option, but becoming a professional synchronized swimmer is not as it would not use the critical thinking skills of an engineering degree).

-A career where I will be rewarded for hard work.

-A career that I can live for. I want to work long hours, and I want to enjoy it. I don't want my career to support my hobbies, I want it to be the hobby.

Lemme talk about this in terms of points 1, 2, 3, 4 referring to the above. I consider 1 to be the "primary". Number 2 seems to reduce to saying "I don't want to end up writing off the past X years as totally irrelevant." I understand that, but another nuclear engineering student, Alan Gottlieb (one of the happiest guys in the country as of 10:13am EST Thursday) successfully pursued a totally non-nuclear career. To the extent that #2 is really about #1, I get that, but what specifically is the value of "using the degree"? One instantiation of the idea "using the degree" is that you might not end up applying concrete factual knowledge from nuclear engineering, but you could easily apply methods of reasoning acquired in pursuing the nuke degree. What does that reduce to? Again, #1 -- live by using your mind. (I could give you an argument that going into linguistics would be an instance of "using the degree", at the level of "I'm educated, now what?".) My problems with #3 are these. First, I don't believe in the ethos of "hard work", so if you can create things of value effortlessly, then I think you should be rewarded in proportion to the objective value of what you do. Similarly, the fact that you worked hard doesn't justify any reward at all (the "so-and-so worked very hard" argument kinda makes me vomit). Please don't start getting into the mind-set "I worked hard, I deserve to be rewarded". Now, there is a related question about "reward". Life is full of rewards, and the two most important ones IMO are "personal happiness" (related to achieving goals) and payola. They aren't automatically the same thing -- decide the correct balance for you. #4 basically summarizes the distinction between your job and your career; what you mean is, you don't want to leave the job behind, you want the job to be your life, so that the idea of "quitting work" is like "quitting living".

Reducing the matter to the central question, #1, what exactly do you want to produce and why? Why nuclear engineering as opposed to chemical or mechanical engineering? Why nuclear engineering as opposed to nuclear physics or astronomy? Why not economics, or contract law?

[volco]

I always found myself drawing ships and buildings and making notations, logos, and calculations based on publicity catalogues from hotels and such. I couldnt quiet name it, I was induced to think I was meant to be an architect, but became infatuated with programming software (90s, adventure games, remember?) as I also liked to write fiction and regarded software as even better. Then came some "teen phases" and three changes of majors. when I woke up I wanted to be a Geographic Information System Analyst but found programming code a waste of time i could be paying others if i had the liquid. So now I'm gathering the strenght to be honest to myself and do what I could always grasp as a child but could never name: Develop Land into Cities.

I want to be the mastermind, is this capricious? It is certainly ambitious, I essentially want to work in something non technical, something very abstract: I want to judge: people, ideas, investments, buildings, bricks! But I certainly want to create new value, make the material world as it could and ought to be, and I know in which scale I feel more confortable. I am fascinated by history and the origins of civilization: The fact is that chairs, skyscrapers and pools were not created instinctively or merely by luck, but by some specifical individuals. There is a underlying human will to live better, elevated from the ground, more proudly or more enjoyably not just more efficiently. I like history because I want to make it and because it unveils the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead.

The last issue i had was deciding whether it was more convenient for external factors to create software worlds, as the trend "seems" to suggest;

or to do so upon concrete land. I've decided for the latter, and I'll pursue it until i succeed or my soul gives up.

What to study and where to work for money and learning is very specific and the problems of everyone's everyday life, but as DH said we need a purpose which can only be a personal individual one which I like to call owning my own business. Only your conscious creation can reflect and fulfill your expectations.

But I'm a narcissist....

Edited June 29, 2008 by volco

[pam]

So, look at *your* life and ask yourself, "what do I always find myself doing?" What *thing* do you always find yourself coming back to no matter how many times you may have put it down? Is it digging around in a garden? Driving a car? Swimming? Wiring up little gadgets? Going to the top of skyscrapers?

THIS is great advice-I knew I read it here and it was from JMegan-it just took me 1/2 hour of searching to find it!

What I have always gone back to (well never left) is wanting to have my own small farm, not to drop out like the essay I posted awhile back, but to have more control over my own life and how I live it. I love the outdoors and gardening and stacking wood and making fires...

anyway Thanks!

Pam

[Jake]

dhthomps,

I used to ruminate about finding my ideal career, and all I got from it was lots of worry and a tendency not to commit. I dropped out of college after 3 semesters pursuing a Math/Physics degree, not because I didn't enjoy the study, but because I didn't commit to the achievement. After that, I went to work in the computer field (programming, tech support, database admin, etc.) I liked the work, but I didn't see a (meaningful) future in it. So, after a few years of that, I enlisted in the Navy, partially to have an external direction set for me. While I don't think abdicating one's choice of purpose is good, the act of committing to something worked wonders for me. I became an Electronics Technician and excelled at that. If I had stayed in that job, I would have become a paper pusher. Luckily, the Navy thought I was "officer material" and sent me back to college. Now, I have a B.S. in Aero-E and fly helicopters. I don't use my degree on a daily basis, but I don't regret a single day of my studies, and I wouldn't be an officer without the degree. I also don't regret any of the time I spent in any other career. I'm 30 years old, and I can fly airplanes/helicopters, design aircraft/spacecraft, troubleshoot/repair electronics, and build/program/troubleshoot PCs. (I can also flip burgers and clean floors, but I'm not as proud of my high school work.) My point is that I'm better at my current profession because of the knowledge gained from previous professions, and I personally would not give that up for the sake of having had only 1 profession in the last 10 years.

Anyway, if Nuke-E is engaging and fulfilling presently, commit to finishing your degree, then decide what to do after that. I assure you that time spent in any rewarding pursuit is not wasted. There is no ideal pursuit, there are only ideal paths for accomplishing specific goals. If you commit to excellence (I know it sounds cheesy), you won't do anything just moderately well, and you will find a pursuit worthy of your life's work.

[JASKN]

If you commit to excellence (I know it sounds cheesy), you won't do anything just moderately well, and you will find a pursuit worthy of your life's work.

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed it. This is a great point, that things done well in the past lead to careers later down the line. My work in a variety of businesses surely amplified my interest in businesses generally.

On a brief side-note, I didn't know you flew helicopters. I have been entertaining the thought of learning how to fly; how would you describe the experience? Exhilarating, relaxing, challenging... what? Is it comparable to driving (which I love doing) at all?

[KevinDW78]

My point is that I'm better at my current profession because of the knowledge gained from previous professions, and I personally would not give that up for the sake of having had only 1 profession in the last 10 years.

This applies to me as well and I would agree. I have spent the last ten years in web development (programming) and now that I am back in school working toward what I really want to be doing (architecture) I'll be able to use the experience and knowledge of the past ten years (and more importantly, the money) in the rest of my architectural career. When I have my own firm - I'll be able to design and build my own web site for the firm, maintain the computer network in my studio, develop any software application I might need to aid in my business, etc.

[Jake]

On a brief side-note, I didn't know you flew helicopters. I have been entertaining the thought of learning how to fly; how would you describe the experience? Exhilarating, relaxing, challenging... what? Is it comparable to driving (which I love doing) at all?

Yes, it is all of those things. It's not exactly relaxing through military flight school, until you get to solo a few times. I went through some civilian flight school, that's more relaxed. It is comparable to driving, and I've always suspected there's a high correlation between one's driving and flying skills. It is obviously more complicated, because you're moving in 3-D, the controls are coupled (more power = more left pedal, etc.), and there are far more rules and regulations to learn; but flying is uniquely rewarding. I love activities that involve mind and body with a machine extension (like driving fast on country roads). It's too bad 100LL fuel is around $5/gal now.

[JASKN]

I love activities that involve mind and body with a machine extension (like driving fast on country roads).

Likewise. I wouldn't doubt it involving the same brain mechanisms as playing a musical instrument. My car is to me like another part of my body... a very fast part. And now I am excited at the prospect of flying!

[JMeganSnow]

All skills involve fundamentally the same process: typing, playing a guitar, driving a car, flying a plane, swimming, juggling, kicking a ball, writing a play, solving an equation . . .

I enjoy the physical activities that I've learned, but I don't enjoy the *process* of learning them very much because it seems like it takes me 3-5 times as long as most people to pick up a new physical skill. I'm MASSIVELY uncoordinated. It doesn't help that this problem is likely self-inflicted, either.

However, I really enjoy writing. I love coming up with a good way to describe something and telling a story and learning new words that I can use in an interesting way. Sometimes I'll be stupidly abrasive because I liked the sentence I came up with so much that I'll say it even though it's not appropriate.

You can also look for potential careers by examining the areas where you enjoy the *process* of learning and extending your skills: a creative career involves a constant process of acquiring new knowledge, automatizing it, and striving after the new again. It's really hard to make a career out of something that you learn how to do once and that's it. There are many things that I'd like to learn how to do, but I'm not sure I'd want to devote the time and effort to learn how to do them *really well* and keep improving.

[Tenure]

Jenni, are you saying then, that part of the evaluation of a skill as a value to yourself, should be the time you're willing to put into actually learning said skill? Because I agree with that. Ice Skating might be fun to do, but it's so low down on my value hierarchy, that even spending five minutes practising it just isn't worth my time. I just don't care about it enough to put the time into learning how to do it.

That said, I should note that I try to take an attitude of being open towards at least trying something. The process of learning a new skill might be difficult, but until you actually try your hand at something, you won't know if it's worth doing. For example, mastering a martial art is difficult, but until I tried it out, I didn't know whether it was something I wanted to spend my time learning to do. I think part of the discovery of a value, if its some sort of skill, is in trying it out for a short amount of time. But as you say, it's then up to you to say, 'Do I like this enough to make it a regular portion of my time?'

[LovesLife]

Something else to keep in mind when choosing a career is the concept of the "sanction of the victim." For example, if you don't believe in big government, then don't get a government job. If you believe that the way your government applies military force is immoral, then don't join the military or get a job building products for them. If pollution is important to you, then don't get a job with a company that pollutes.

This can be applied in a positive way, too. The point is that the product of your labor has an impact on more than just you; it feeds back into the world around you. A rational understanding of that impact should therefore be factored into your career choice.