Stepping stones provide us with the proper way of life. To step on stones is to build towards what is interesting but unknown. Stepping stones as a way-finding vehicle is what we need.
Goals, targets, are frames. Top-down control mechanisms. They set the tone for action. Do this, do that, all within the frame of achieving X or Y. They are authority, reigning over our heads like a crown. What matters then is picking these up and putting these down, not ensuring they are set in stone.
We want pattern within nebulosity. We want frame control. We want goodness within movement. We want interestingness. We want signal with no hard boundaries. We want pattern matching within the unknown. We want fluidity. We want exploration within the mundane while the sacred reveals itself effortlessly.
Interestingness as a compass, as a guide, is like your wise teacher giving you a felt sense as to what to move towards. Schmidhuber says interestingness is about compression progress. At what rate are the patterns in the nebulosity are you finding? Too fast? Too slow? Find the middle way.
Too slow of compression means confusion, means getting lost in the moment you find yourself in. Too fast and you get boredom. Move on. Who would choose to stay with that? Listen to your authority. Listen to your heart, the felt senses, not the words.
Back to goals, they are fine, but not as a final tool. They are guide posts. Kill the buddha if you see him on the road, and also kill your goals if you meet them. Keep goals, lightly, and prioritize interestingness and felt senses of wonder. Lean into the magic of learning, the magic of the unknown, of nebulosity.