Let me suggest that the difference between goal-less behavior and goal-driven behavior, is that goal-driven behavior seeks means to attain its end. The means will vary with circumstances, while the end remains relatively invariant. Another indication of goal-driven behavior is that means are often prepared in anticipation of need, rather than in response to present need.
I said "relatively invariant" because goals can be and often are heirarical. An example was outlined by Maslow in his "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the Psychological Review (1943). Maslow aside, in problem solving, we often resort to staged solutions in which the means to a higher order goal become a new sub-goal... (read more)
Let me suggest that the difference between goal-less behavior and goal-driven behavior, is that goal-driven behavior seeks means to attain its end. The means will vary with circumstances, while the end remains relatively invariant. Another indication of goal-driven behavior is that means are often prepared in anticipation of need, rather than in response to present need.
I said "relatively invariant" because goals can be and often are heirarical. An example was outlined by Maslow in his "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the Psychological Review (1943). Maslow aside, in problem solving, we often resort to staged solutions in which the means to a higher order goal become a new sub-goal... (read more)