The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

The Lure of False Purposes
The gravitational pull we feel toward finding a purpose comes from
two elements in human nature. First, unable to rely on instincts as
other animals do, we require some means of having a sense of
direction, a way to guide and restrict our behavior. Second, we humans
are aware of our puniness as individuals in a world with billions of
others in a vast universe. We are aware of our mortality, and how we
will eventually be swallowed up in the eternity of time. We need to feel
larger than just the individuals we are, and connected to something
that transcends us.
Human nature being what it is, however, many people seek to
create purpose and a feeling of transcendence on the cheap, to find it
in the easiest and most accessible way, with the least amount of effort.
Such people give themselves over to false purposes, those that merely
supply the illusion of purpose and transcendence. We can contrast
them with real purposes in the following way: The real purpose comes

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from within. It is an idea, a calling, a sense of mission that we feel
personally and intimately connected to. It is our own; we may have
been inspired by others, but nobody imposed it upon us and nobody
can take it away. If we are religious, we don’t merely accept the
orthodoxy; we go through rigorous introspection and make our belief
inward, true to ourselves. False purposes come from external sources—
belief systems that we swallow whole, conformity to what other people
are doing.
The real purpose leads us upward, to a more human level. We
improve our skills and sharpen our minds; we realize our potential and
contribute to society. False purposes lead downward, to the animal
side of our nature—to addictions, loss of mental powers, mindless
conformity, and cynicism.
It is critical that we become aware of these false forms of purpose.
Inevitably all of us at some point in our lives fall for them because they
are so easy, popular, and cheap. If we can eliminate the impulse
toward these lower forms, we will naturally gravitate toward the
higher, in our unavoidable search for meaning and purpose. Here are
five of the most common forms of false purposes that have appealed to
humans since the beginning of civilization.