"I Do Everything for My Loved Ones" Except Think Critically

People tend to hold ideals which can be summarized as altruism or “I want to help others”: “Everything I do, I do for my family.” “I want to give my children a better life than I had.” “I want my parents to be proud of me.” “I want to leave something behind when I’m gone.” “I want to make something of myself.” “I want to be someone people look up to.” “I want to make a difference in people’s lives.” “I want to fight for what is right.” “I want to protect those who cannot protect themselves.” “Someone has to take responsibility.” “I just want to be myself.” “I want to live life on my own terms.” “I don’t want anyone telling me how to live.” “All I really want is to be happy.” “I just want a quiet, peaceful life.” “Life is short, so I want to enjoy it.” “I want to experience everything life has to offer.” “I don’t want to reach old age wondering what might have been.” “I want to become rich enough that I never have to worry about money again.” “I want to make up for the mistakes I’ve made.” “I just want to be a good person.” Even though not all such ideas logically entail “helping others”, most are interpreted so anyway. “Happiness” tends to be understood as making others happy, recognition tends to be gained from helping others, and “wealth” can be understood as consistently providing a service to others. Regardless of the exact objective, however, all such sayings have the same 2 fundamental problems: Theoretically, they can be used to rationalize any course of action, while practically they are used almost exclusively to rationalize conforming to what seems “normal”. How can you know whether your actions achieve your claimed objective, be it helping others, experiencing “everything”, or anything else, without understanding the world and therefore the consequences of your actions?