Simple Means, Rich Ends
The phrase came from Gandhi, whom Næss read with the same intensity he brought to Spinoza. Simple means, rich ends. A flourishing life requires minimum material complexity and maximum experiential richness. Industrial civilization inverts this ratio: it builds extraordinarily complex means in pursuit of ends that are, when examined, often impoverished — more output, faster production, greater efficiency, the expansion of capability in the absence of the wisdom to direct it or the presence to enjoy it. The AI transition intensifies this inversion. The infrastructure that powers the tools is among the most complex systems humans have ever built; the ends it typically serves — speed, output, productivity — are among the thinnest possible conceptions of what a life can be for.
In The You On AI Field Guide
Næss was specific about what richness meant. It was not pleasure, though pleasure was part of it. It was not accomplishment, though accomplishment was part of it. Richness was the quality