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I think you're asking a pretty profound question here, a. la "What is the meaning of life?" Not all of life's work has to be such a drudge. I would argue that y

I think you're asking a pretty profound question here, a. la "What is the meaning of life?" Not all of life's work has to be such a drudge. I would argue that you certainly have not won "the game" if nothing seems worth it from where you sit. Has it not afforded you the opportunity to pursue hobbies / travel / etc that you desire? Has your work never been interesting or given you a spark to learn new things about our world / universe / inner-workings of personal relationships? I believe it is much more about the journey than the finish line.

questinthrow 3y ago
I have satisfied all the desires that you speak of, hobbies, travelling and so on. But in the end only an absence of desire actually helped me, realizing the arbitrary nature of my goals and desires and how they all only provide momentary succor.
johnea 3y ago
There is no "meaning" of life. What even is the meaning of meaning? Asking about the "meaning" is reallly just asking: How does this affect ME? Even asking this question is a demonstration of our species' general lack of appreciation for how outragously improbable our existence is. Stop worrying about your "special purpose" and start being thankful that you're a winner of the trillion-to-one lottery that lets you sit here and think about these things... How does this apply to the birth-rate issue? Simple, we need to intelligently manage our population size, which means having many-many less people on the planet...
- agent008t 3y ago
  Life comes with a lot of suffering inseparable from it. Different paths in life we can choose result in different kinds of struggle we onboard. Meaning is defined as what makes it overwhelmingly worthwhile. A lot of religions/philosophies - Stoicism, Buddhism, Christianity etc. - are great for dealing with these problems for yourself, assuming you are already here. None, however, inspire the creation of new life to deal with this stuff. E.g. "Virtue is the highest good and its own reward" is great, but why create new life to have to deal with this if it can be avoided? It becomes circular and meaningless. Any kind of dopamine-based pleasures are also somewhat degrading to one's humanity once you realize you're effectively being the mouse pushing the button, and are certainly far removed from having any meaning. What difference does it make how fast you were running on the hedonic treadmill if you're going to die?

questinthrow 3y ago

I have satisfied all the desires that you speak of, hobbies, travelling and so on. But in the end only an absence of desire actually helped me, realizing the arbitrary nature of my goals and desires and how they all only provide momentary succor.

johnea 3y ago

There is no "meaning" of life. What even is the meaning of meaning? Asking about the "meaning" is reallly just asking: How does this affect ME? Even asking this question is a demonstration of our species' general lack of appreciation for how outragously improbable our existence is. Stop worrying about your "special purpose" and start being thankful that you're a winner of the trillion-to-one lottery that lets you sit here and think about these things... How does this apply to the birth-rate issue? Simple, we need to intelligently manage our population size, which means having many-many less people on the planet...

agent008t 3y ago
Life comes with a lot of suffering inseparable from it. Different paths in life we can choose result in different kinds of struggle we onboard. Meaning is defined as what makes it overwhelmingly worthwhile. A lot of religions/philosophies - Stoicism, Buddhism, Christianity etc. - are great for dealing with these problems for yourself, assuming you are already here. None, however, inspire the creation of new life to deal with this stuff. E.g. "Virtue is the highest good and its own reward" is great, but why create new life to have to deal with this if it can be avoided? It becomes circular and meaningless. Any kind of dopamine-based pleasures are also somewhat degrading to one's humanity once you realize you're effectively being the mouse pushing the button, and are certainly far removed from having any meaning. What difference does it make how fast you were running on the hedonic treadmill if you're going to die?