[rramadass]

Nietzsche said Man does not seek Happiness; only the Englishman does that. What Man seeks is Meaning and Purpose. That is not an exact quote but a gist of his philosophical outlook.

The fundamental problem is that the Scientific Revolution upended everything we had known and around which we had built our social structures. People were born into an existing "social framework structure" which they followed obediently without questioning and when something went wrong/did not understand, they simply attributed it to an almighty "G-O-D" and washed their hands off of it. Being absolved of any personal responsibility and not being forced to learn and make hard decisions and live with its consequences is highly cognitively consonant rather than dissonant and keeps one "Happy". Mere Scientific Knowledge without resolution into a coherent and understandable framework leads to more cognitive dissonance and hence keeps one "Unhappy".

The solution is to use Modern Science to understand Objective Reality and use ancient Philosophical Concepts/Frameworks from Hindu/Buddhist/Greek Cultures to mould our Subjective View of it (but without going off into la-la land).

[jorzel]

Before the Scientific Revolution people definitely had less freedom and agency.

And that condition was justified drive to more individualism, more impact in their own life.

However, in the recent years and decades it has gone too fare. We have become rootless and disconnected.

[rramadass]

That is why you have to go back to fundamental philosophical concepts i mentioned. They had studied the "Human Condition" extensively and prescribed different "Worldviews" (i.e. philosophical schools) and corresponding disciplines which people can choose from, to follow, according to their Characters/Dispositions.

The end goal is what the Hindus/Buddhists call "Kaivalya/Moksa/Nirvana" and the Greeks "Eudaimonia". This is not fleeting sensory happiness but a steady state of calm flowing happiness. While it is commonly thought of as necessitating stepping away from everything (i.e. renunciation) that is not necessary. You can engage with the World and yet stand apart from it by letting sensory enjoyments come and go while maintaining mental equanimity throughout.