>>12508870>purpose and meaningIt was important to have a drive when most peoples living conditions were not that great.
You are the result of a great 2 billion year evolutionary battle. Your question is like asking "why doesn't an army just put down its weapons and eat cake"- great way to die.
Meaning, purpose, intelligence etc are all useful things to keep highly complex organisms alive.
Our instincts just were not developed for post scarcity industrial society. Some people can fullfill this need through career. eg a high ranking military general of today is the same sort of person who would have found military strategy in any era an appealing prospect.
Same genes different era.
Problem now is a lot of physical jobs that give people meaning have become obsolete, and for a lot of people that 'purpose' was generated through just moving their bodies (digging, farming etc).
The right balance of pleasure/discomfort gives groups competitive advantage depending on their environment
