[glomgril]

Yeah this is pretty much my line of thinking. Not making any grand claims, just questioning the conventional wisdom. No doubt that the material conditions, health, and conveniences of today are unparalleled in history, that's just not what I'm talking about right now.

[tuatoru]

I think you are talking about "meaning" in life, the sense of being part of something larger than yourself, that isn't just accumulation for accumulation's sake. There is a debate there, no doubt.

The scientists and engineers that work insane hours at SpaceX are probably looking for something like that.

But in the past, for most people, life was merely a struggle to survive, that they lost sooner rather than later.

[arp242]

"Struggle to survive" gives meaning to life though. And one of the best ways to form deep connections with people is shared hardship.

It's really hard to say what's "better" in any sort of objective and quantifiable way; but it seems to me that by making the basics of life very easy we've sort of lost something along the way.

After all, playing a game that's so easy that it doesn't provide any challenge isn't much fun either, right?

[throwaway675309]

The "Struggle to survive" gives meaning to life though.

No, it doesn't, this is just one of those banal transcendental platitudes that gets repeated enough to where it sounds like it's some sort of objective truth. Like the one about how "life only has meaning because it is short and ephemeral". By that logic an aborted fetus has had the richest life of all.

Life's meaning is ultimately in the eyes of the beholder. We all derive meaning differently, there is no universal solvent.

[Isinlor]

You are free to make your life as difficult as you want. You can move to Alaska and try to survive there from manual work.

There is a very good reason why people want to go from poor countries to rich and not the other way around. Poverty is not fun.

[faeriechangling]

I think of this a lot whenever I hear people complain the world is too luxurious. I mean really people do have the option to live in more squalid conditions but they seem like they'd rather wax poetic behind their keyboards. It smacks of insincerity.

[GoblinSlayer]

I get no joy from a game I can't clear.