“Back to our regularly scheduled programming.” Recently, I have been involved in circles, activities, and places that I should not have been involved in. I regret it in my bones because I wasted time I should have protected. However, during this time, I noticed something: dedication is a spectrum, and it is not always what it seems at the surface level. To clarify my own understanding, I have decided to write a short essay about dedication.
By “dedication,” I do not mean care for people. I am referring to dedication toward one’s job, work, craft, cause, or project. I considered including dedication to people, but that seems too private and emotionally complex to judge objectively. Therefore, when I use “dedication” in this essay, I mean the degree to which a person gives themselves to their work or work-related projects.
For some time, I observed people and their relationship to the work they do. I noticed certain patterns and began to think that dedication is a spectrum rather than a binary, at least in my observations. Because I understand ideas better visually, I imagine this spectrum as an “X-axis.”
On the far-right end of the axis, there are people who care obsessively and dedicate themselves almost completely to what they do. They cannot fake this dedication; they breathe it and live through it. Most parts of their lives are built around it. They might even feel offended when others dismiss, ignore, or undermine their subjects, ideas, jobs, or projects. Examples would include figures like Pep Guardiola, Steve Jobs, Peter Thiel, and Demis Hassabis.
In comparison, on the far-left end of the axis, there are people who do not care, or care very little, and also do not conceal it. Their lack of devotion does not mean they refuse to do the job or do it badly. Rather, they approach the work instrumentally. They are motivated by outcome-related reasons: fame, money, luxury, and other things outside the work itself.
One example that comes to mind is Vince Staples. In one of his interviews, he suggested that he does not care much about accolades or romantic, myth-like motives around rap as a craft. Instead, he seems more concerned with the money, comfort, and freedom that a rap career can bring to him.
There is an interesting similarity with the people on the far-right end of the spectrum: honesty. Both groups are open and honest about their dedication, even if the nature of that dedication differs hugely.
On the center-left of the axis, there are people who do their jobs with care, sincerely and genuinely, but are not consumed by them in the way far-right people are. I think most of us fit into this part of the spectrum. A dedicated teacher, lawyer, doctor, driver, or manager may care about their job and do it responsibly while still refusing to build their entire life around it. They have other equally essential parts of life to which they give real time and attention: family, hobbies, friends, travel, and rest. They are very open about this. They care about their work, but they do not want to appear obsessed with it.
On the center-right, there are people who do not intrinsically care that much, but pretend to care deeply about the work they are doing. I think this is the most dangerous group on the spectrum. They make others believe they are dedicated, even obsessed, but their dedication is partly theatrical. They are not only lying to others; they may also be lying to themselves. I do not fully understand their motives, but it seems that they are neither courageous enough to live obsessively for the work they claim to care about, nor secure enough to admit that they are not obsessed.
A good way to observe the center-right people is to look at their free time. I think free time exposes people’s real motives because official work time can be performed, whereas free time reveals voluntary attention. The other three groups usually spend their free time coherently. The far-right person returns to the craft, project, or problem; the far-left person enjoys comfort, luxury, or leisure; and the center-left person spends time on activities outside work. The people on the center-right part of the spectrum might not do any of these clearly. If they return to the work and work consistently on it, then they probably belong closer to the far-right than the center-right. But if they immediately return to leisure or outside activities while still claiming obsessive dedication, they may be performing dedication rather than living it.
I am not arguing for the moral superiority of any group. People are free to decide what kind of life they want to pursue. My only suggestion is honesty. If you are obsessed, live obsessively. If you care moderately, admit your limits. If you are in it for money, comfort, or freedom, say that honestly. But do not lie to yourself or perform a life you are not willing to live. Life is given only once, and it should be lived sincerely.
Seoul, Korea
08/06/2026