[sdsaga12]

Well said. I think your observation about the centrality of meaning not only rings true in the specific case of developer experience but also echoes the meaning crisis endemic to modern American life.

Put another way, the capacity for human accomplishment in the context of WWII or the Apollo Program boggles the mind somewhat less when you consider how much these projects meant to the people involved.

The meaning vacuum is distorting the culture beyond bullshit jobs, too, as is increasingly visible in people losing themselves in ideology or hatred for The Other. For many, these feel like the most foundational things they have to believe in.