[amag]

No need when I can examine myself to know myself :). While not actively working for it, I'm at least inspired by the FIRE movement. I am also self-employed so I don't see job security as the meaning of life.

Still this whole thread has been illuminating, maybe part of my fear comes from identifying strongly with being creative and making things, and seeing that turned into something automated.

[RGamma]

I wouldn't give too much weight to some of these almost comically optimistic answers.

As with any society-scale event nobody really knows what's happening in every nook and cranny of this multi-billion inhabitant [0] spaceship and when it has happened it can and will be rationalised to fit just as many views.

Personally I very much get your point. Necessity is the mother of invention, and taking the necessity out of pretty much everything can destroy your motivation, because why expend energy on an already solved problem? That's inefficient (under the assumption that you won't require this understanding for some other reason). I know this happens to me, at least.

Perhaps in the AI-dominated world there'll be a pill for that or something..

[0] Animals won't stress out about this ;)