One time I was at a party pouring a lot of liquids into a large pot. A person walking by introduces himself to me and asks what kind of drink I am making. The person is friendly and asks if he can help me prepare the drink. I respond that I’m alright. He says that he is a professional bartender and he can help me make a great drink. Again, I thank him for the offer but reject it. He looks in the drink and says that the milk I am about to add will be a bad fit, and insists that his experience in making drinks would be helpful for me. “Have you ever made any drinks before?” he asks. “No this is my first time, but I am alright, thank you”. He walks away thinking that I am naive and will make a lot of unnecessary mistakes by rejecting his competent advice when making the drink. What he failed to realize was that I was not making a drink, I was merely pouring expired drinks with the purpose of throwing them.

The mistake here is pretty clear. The man did not think about what the purpose of me pouring liquids was. He presumed that I wanted to maximize the taste of the drink, whereas I didn’t care about that parameter. The goal, or purpose, behind a decision or an action is fundamental. If you have yet to understand the purpose of something, your experience, skills, and any other measure of competence suddenly become irrelevant. This is why theoretical knowledge is more important than empirical, why philosophy is more important than any other part of science, and why many of the people perceived to be well-educated and smart remain amateurs when it comes to living life.