# A capabilities approach to personal development

_Warning: Rather obvious things will be said below. (EDIT: May not be so obvious after all. Sorry.)_

The [capabilities approach](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/capability-approach/) is an important theoretical framework in political and moral philosophy, often used in the context of development and welfare economics, pioneered by [Amartya Sen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen) and [Martha Nussbaum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum). The principal insight I want to import from the capabilities approach is that the main goal of any development exercise should be to increase the capabilities of individuals. In other words, I may not be able to tell what goals you would like to achieve, but I can make a reasonable guess that capabilities like health, access to jobs, access to food-supply etc. would help you achieve what you want to achieve. The capabilities approach doesn't necessarily privilege a life-script.

There are three main categories of capabilities: personal, social and environmental. Let me illustrate with an example from the [Stanford Encyclopedia article](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/capability-approach/). Suppose you own a bike. This in itself isn't very useful. You value the bike because you can use it to move around. But in order to be able to use it fruitfully, you need a degree of all three categories of capabilities: (1) **Personal capabilities**: You must know how to ride a bike. The quality of your health determines how far you go. Your bike must be in good condition. (2) **Social capabilities**: It should be socially acceptable to ride a bike; for example you may live in a country where women aren't allowed to ride bikes. (3) **Environmental capabilities**: You need to have decent roads to ride the bike. You must have access to bike repair shops. It must be safe to ride a bike. 

Another major insight of the capabilities approach is that capabilities can combine and are inter-dependent. Thus, there can be a combinatorial explosion in actual opportunities for each extra capability acquired. Sticking with the bike example, suppose you also know how to drive a car and own a car; suppose your car can carry your bike; suppose you have good fitness; and suppose you have access to wilderness. Now, you can take your bike to the wilderness and bike around and enjoy the nature. This capability in turn allows a great new mode of socialization. Further, you have a capability to further improve your fitness. 

My goal here is to apply this approach to personal development. First let me make a tentative list of what capabilities seem worth acquiring (far from comprehensive or complete):

1.  _Fitness capabilities_: Access to gyms; running spaces; knowledge of good exercise routines and form; techniques for converting this knowledge and access into actual regular practice.
2.  _Nutrition capabilities_: Access to an affordable variety of nutritious food; knowledge of what to eat; techniques for eating healthy consistently. 
3.  _Health capabilities_: Access to affordable medical care; knowledge of good health practices; good sanitation systems; vaccination; clean air and water.
4.  _Mental well-being capabilities_: Access to mental health services; strong social support systems; knowledge of emotional techniques such as meditation, self-compassion; ability to bounce back from stress.
5.  _Social skills_: Having a good family/friend circle; ability to speak publicly; ability to engage in conversation in both regular and novel situations; access to interesting people; freedom to choose your social circle; ability to influence peers and people in the workplace.
6.  _Romantic/Sexual capabilities_: Sexual freedom; freedom of expression of sexual orientation; knowledge of good sexual practices; access to a dating pool; freedom to marry and divorce; abilities of seek, find and connect with partners.
7.  _Work capabilities_: Abilities that allow you seek jobs and move to a different place; non-racist/non-sexist/disabled-friendly workplaces; having various skills so as to be able to seek different jobs.
8.  _Intellectual capabilities_: Access to good education; access to the internet; IQ; reading, writing & math skills; access to libraries/books.
9.  _Movement capabilities_: Citizenship/Residency in a developed country; good transportation systems; access to public and personal transport.

Notice that all of the above capabilities include aspects of all three major categories of personal, social and environmental. For example, in Health, access to health-care services is an environmental capability; having parents who've vaccinated you is a social capability; and knowledge of health-care services is a personal capability.

  

How might this generic list translate into a more specific list of capabilities one can acquire? An example list:

1.  Learn math, statistics and programming: Increases work capabilities and intellectual capabilities. 
2.  Learn meditation: Increases mental well-being capabilities; potentially also social skills; also intellectual capabilities as perhaps you can concentrate longer.
3.  Save/Earn more money: Increases almost all of the capabilities.
4.  Acquire citizenship/residency/visa in a developed country: Increases almost all of the capabilities; the social and environmental aspects improve dramatically.
5.  Attend a public speaking course: Increases social skills and work capabilities.
6.  Own a car: At least in the US, drastically improves movement capabilities. Or, if you're in a city with good public transport, learn to use it well.

I emphasize again the combinatorial explosion made possible by acquiring capabilities. For example, if you're a good programmer, then acquiring good social capabilities will make you extra valuable on the job market; you can have better romantic relationships and better relationships with your friends; and you can send back cold soup without the waiter hating you.

  

To summarize, as you can never be sure about the kind of life you might want to live and never be sure about the contingencies of life, then it is much better to focus on acquiring capabilities rather than very specific life-goals. This is because capabilities allow you to choose the kind of life you want to live based on your particular situation.