Are happiness and fulfillment merely neurochemical drugs to allow us to bear this universe?
I honestly fail to see what purpose there is to any success. All the sci-fi novels I grew up reading are the reason I want to 'live in the future/invest in biotech' so much but now I begin to wonder if it isn't just a bunch of hi-tech gizmos, just toys that are awesome for a while then wear off, as you continue to question why exist at all ; even, say, experiencing fundamentally transcendental exonet post-lingual connections w/ AI's and other humans, what would be the point, of being way better connected & in understanding/sharing w/ others, if there isn't much point existing in the first place..?
'Purpose of living - happiness/fulfillment/experiences' -> Are we automatically sick if we no longer want to find happiness, if the idea itself doesn't garner any interest anymore? Or could we possibly be enlightened/have realized something..? My fulfillment was to exist in full-immersion VR one day, as well as empowering people via unique creative value projects & exponential growth - certainly not, fulfillment via the home mortgage + dogs + kids/spouse classic mainstream tropes - nor any kind of religious fulfillment. So that leaves out nothing once the transhuman aspirations lose their luster.
This is a bit how I felt back years ago. My entire productivity problems stemmed from feeling lonely. I sought a companion, to act as a crutch, bootstrapping me with a (possibly shallow/illusory..?) sense of purpose - "I live, I fight, I win", for this person. When my dreams lose their shine, and I no longer want to bother, this person gives me the automatic reason to keep trying my best. But, now she's gone. I realize it's more ideal to stay alone because you'll never find the right match ; There needs to be a global matching system w/ eHarmony-x10-levels of compatibility criteria matching accuracy, but the problem is humans are still too stupid to make that happen (think of the happiness such a global compulsory system would create - hundreds of millions of divorces, decades of cheating / drama / misery avoided ;o) So folks just date people randomly, lol, as if you'll find the right match that way ^_ This shows dating is obviously a joke and a sort of 'new shoes' drug people crave over & over. Most will nonetheless continue to try, even when well aware of how trite and/or hopeless the repeated exercise proves to be - because the alternative, being resigned to be alone forever, is too painful to bear. My theory is this pain is a tell-tale sign this universe is actually unfit for life - it is so painful, that we need the drugs known as happiness and fulfillment, usually through time-tested crutches such as religious belief, the quest for a perfect match/companion, and having children to pass this thorny existential question to.
It seems no matter what, the final solution is to give up. What's the point? It's a crap universe needlessly vicious & arbitrary to all sentient lifeforms anyway - think how much suffering it imposes on humans alone for little reason. Why bother you know, just let it go & see how much (possibly worse) the next universe is. I mean.. honestly. Just rationally does NOT seem like anything has true worth. Just a bells & jingles endless rat race for little valuable purpose.
The universal, default #1 solution to this fundamental quandary of life, has always been simply - having children 'to live for'. Obviously our entire hierarchy of needs/psychological drive system is based on genetic propagation & survival so its evident biologically we're simply wired to give it all to childrens' sake etc. But what about the philosophical angle of it? Is there one, or is it purely biological imperative. I find that actually, there is a sapient, rational mind, argument to giving all to children, too, that is distinct & detached from the biological urge. And I really like it - in a sardonic way. I find it quite satisfying : Parents - the few that actually think philosophically about existence, that is - will, subconsciously for the most part, rationalize that they sacrifice all/continue to plow forward, for their kids, by thinking "Well.. even if in the end, I have to admit there isn't much fulfillment/point to my existence..what about my kids? I don't know for sure if they'll ever find that purpose they can genuinely put their whole stock in. They just might, even if I didn't. And, just for that alone.. I must do my best. I cannot squander the possibility that even though I never found purpose, my kids might!"
This flagrantly seems like a cop-out. At the end, though they often never manage to find purpose themselves, people use the crutch of "Well, all I have to do is sire some progeny, and then, I can bypass the very real & legitimate existential questions, by just passing them along to my kids! Let them deal with it - I can simply content myself w/ continuing forward ' for their sake' while they will have to do the real homework of finding genuine purpose ;)" This just might be the depressing excuse for humanity's ~500000-year existence, as homo sapiens' progress as a civilization plowed ever onward this is why people kept going - those with a brain beyond biological or religious (sheep mentality) imperatives, that is - they figured, "Well, it's all probably useless - BUT!! I can just do it 'just in case' for my kids' sake, and stop worrying."
Would it really be possible to solve this without resorting to some drugs to hotfix it neurochemically. To find a genuine, rationally valid reason why existing, & bringing unique creative value/beauty to the world, has objective worth, or at least subjective value beyond a hedonistic 'I feel happy/fulfilled' sentiment. To discover a new angle to purpose, that one can rationally believe in, w/ a sane mind. The odds of finding that.. let's just say good luck ;)