[signatoremo]

> But much of life is empty of meaning and devoid of purpose

Maybe life is empty to you. You can't speak for other people.

You also have no idea if pre-modern life was full of meaning and purpose. I'm sure someone from that time bemoaning the same.

The people before modern time were much less well off. They had to work a lot harder to put food on the table. I imagine they didn't have a lot of time to wonder about the meaning of life.