> [...] we are living in a society [that is out] virtually to satisfy and gratify each and every human need, except for one need, the most basic and fundamental need operant in man, the need for meaning.
I reject the premise that we need to go back to some old ways of living to find meaning. My life is full of meaning, but it would probably look like meaningless abundance to someone who was toiling on a farm 18 hours a day or being chased by saber-toothed tigers.
The next paradigm will be similar. It might seem meaningless to us. For example, most of our identity is tied to our jobs in our current society. This will have to change. What does that look like? Do we create content and share our art? Do followers and attention become the new currency?
I don’t think meaning is as malleable as implied. Yes, meaning is entirely subjective, but it’s not boundlessly so. The reason history is a guide is because the needs were more directly connected to the whole maslov’s hierarchy thing. Survival is more justifiably meaningful than “being famous”. I don’t think seeking attention is at all justifiably meaningful in regards to this proposed future attention economy.
“Man’s search for meaning” is arguably the most visceral human framed definition of meaning. Let’s just say it’s not about attention and the Metaverse.
> [...] we are living in a society [that is out] virtually to satisfy and gratify each and every human need, except for one need, the most basic and fundamental need operant in man, the need for meaning.
https://youtu.be/GTbliwS0gS4?t=153
Maybe the Amish had it right, after all.