It does beg the question though,
If OP doesn’t have performance goals, is his program hopping even an issue?
Pedantic semantic note:
This isn't exactly a correct usage of "beg the question."
Begging the question does not just mean "raises the question" or "prompts the question." It is commonly used that way, and at this point the incorrect usage is more common than the correct usage, so it's probably futile to do anything but just accept the newer incorrect usage. The phrase also has a vexed history because it's an English translation of a Latin translation of a Greek phrase, and the relationship between the English words and the original meaning has become a bit distorted.
Begging the question is a type of logical fallacy where the conclusion is assumed by the premise. It is unpersuasive because it leaves the validity of the premise unexamined. It's assuming something is true, rather than proving it is true. For instance, an example of begging the question is "Murder is always wrong; therefore abortion is always wrong." This argument requires the assumption that abortion is murder, and is only persuasive if you already accept the truth of that assumption.
Now to the present case.
If the question in the post quoted above were phrased as a statement ("Since the OP doesn't have performance goals, his program hopping isn't an issue"), that would be begging the question because it assumes that program hopping is only an issue if one has performance goals.
The "correct" usage is confusing because the phrase "begging the question" is a characterization and criticism of an argument, usually without reference to any specific or actual question that is "begged." The misunderstanding of this phrase became a pet peeve of mine because I had a college professor who frequently accused students of "begging the question." But he never said
what question we were begging and it wasn't clear what he was trying to say to us. After class, students would talk about the discussion, and when this begging the question business came up, we'd look at each other and ask, "
What question?" Eventually, I learned the actual meaning of the phrase as the professor was using it.
At first I felt shamefully ignorant, but soon decided to purge my own shame by making it one of my missions in life to shame others ;-).
To me, the question "If OP doesn’t have performance goals, is his program hopping even an issue?" prompts (not begs) a few additional questions (which have already been raised in some form in previous posts on this thread):
- What do we mean by "performance goals"? Where do performance goals fall in a spectrum of very specific to very general goals, reasons, and purposes?
- What exactly do we mean by program hopping?
- In what ways, or under what circumstances is program hopping problematic?
To a great extent, I think the answers are subjective and individual. The main idea I've tried to share in this thread is that my two main goals in training are to enjoy it and to maintain the continuity of the training process, and that when I do both those things (as I define them for myself, which depends on a bunch of other personal values, reasons, and purposes) I get positive results in some form or fashion, even though those results might not represent any kind of intentional or specific goal, or even a measurable increase in performance (although it usually does).
My mantra is "keep going." And if I keep going I know I'll get somewhere. But I try not to worry too much about the destination, or even the journey, and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.