The Modern Dilemma of Purpose and Connection

What is purpose and where has it gone?

At its core, purpose is spiritual. It is the reason for our actions, creations, and existence — of not only us but the universe itself. Depending on the context and level of abstraction we apply, it can change the way we perceive and talk about things. The higher up we abstract, the more we can see how connected everything seems to be, resonating with the concept of God, consciousness, or nature. For this post, I will focus on the collective human purpose and how this affects us as individuals.

When looking at human processes, I have found that there is nothing inherently unique to us compared to other species. What sets us apart is the complexity and combination of these processes and attributes that some might argue makes us divine. This divinity emerges not only from our position on the food chain, achieved through our collective efforts and the remarkable tools and structures we have created, but also from our capacity for contemplation. This power not only enables us to question our existence and the nature of reality itself, but also to plan. And that, I believe, imprints a sense of responsibility onto us.

This responsibility seems to suggest that the general purpose for us, apart from survival and reproduction just like all other animals, is to collectively maintain order of Earth. However, a glance at the modern world with its technological advancements and its increasing control over nature has allowed us to automate essential survival functions. This has made our everyday life easier and more convenient by offloading most of our daily responsibilities.

This grants us additional time in which we can focus on more abstract and creative pursuits, developing skills and bettering ourselves, connecting more with others and aligning with this higher purpose. Instead, it seems to come with a decline in quality of life, showcased by a progressive rise in metabolic diseases and discontent, leading to an increasing number of premature deaths and suicides. This alludes to a lack of purpose, guidance, or reason to live. Most of us spend our days supporting these technological advancements and, in our free time, trying to entertain ourselves by any means necessary, becoming lazier and unhealthier — symbolising the idea of sin (missing the mark).

This might be because of the focus on increasing life expectancy and GDP (gross domestic product), the current key metrics for a country's success. These metrics replace the values of old traditions and religions, which appear to be more aligned with purpose, all the way down to the individual. This shifts our focus towards aesthetics — the outward appearance of our lives relative to others — rather than an innate beauty. This problem arises from secularisation that opens the door to a unity centred around materialism, due to the nature of humans needing a centralised belief to work and live together.

This occurs as the healing qualities of these old traditions and religions are replaced by a secular system in the form of medication via therapy and drugs, which is determined by modern science and its objective worldview, and an integration of a legal system that provides the ethical guidelines for society. This transition can be observed in the shift from a theocracy to a pharmacracy that we are currently in.

There is nothing inherently wrong with aesthetics and improving one's lifestyle, or with science and medicine for that matter, as there have been numerous positives that have come with this advancement, primarily the ease of life and the alleviation of stressors related to premature deaths (natural disasters, diseases, hunger, dehydration, etc.). However, becoming dogmatic about this continued advancement or order and control comes at the expense of our wellness. The same can be said for religions and cultures.

What is the cause of this?

The problem usually lies more with the institution, not the practice. There is a natural social hierarchy that usually maintains stability and cohesion among the people, where the people at the top hold the power and influence and set the standards for the rest of the population. Those who conform to these standards are accepted and/or rewarded, while those who deviate from them are rejected and punished, meaning that those in power get to dictate the game that is played. Based on the current metrics of success, we can tell it is a material game where the people who can benefit those at the top, or themselves over the collective are rewarded. However, this is only in the short term due to the nature of the material game that is being played, and can be seen with most forms of governments and their decisions with how they deal with lobbying.

This continues to happen as those in power often exploit the lack of education, misinformation, preoccupation, and the mental fatigue of the population, hindering people's ability to question the ideas presented to and/or happening around them, allowing the spread of further propaganda to suit an agenda. This is usually seen because most people can't or don't try to understand the context or history of ideas. They are either unable to read scientific or legal papers, or don't know what is involved in a study or legislation, yet don't want to sound stupid or left out. So they often repeat information without properly contemplating it to sound smart. Ironically, those in power understand people and the mechanisms of the human psyche better than we understand ourselves, so certain ideas can be pushed to satisfy an agenda with minimal pushback by relying on people to spread these ideas by making consistent micro changes — until it becomes too late.

We see this pattern everywhere, but currently more so in the western world. It has gotten to the point that even our fundamental understanding of science and biology is being questioned by current ideologies of gender — the differences between males and females and the roles they play in society and relationships. These traditional roles are fundamentally based on males and females gravitating towards their natural strengths: males being better suited to focus on the material (things), females on the spiritual/social (people) side. This is shown when looking at personality via the Five Factor Model as well as hemisphere development, once culture has been accounted for. Egalitarian societies show larger biological differences between sexes when left to their own accord. This isn't just tied to females being child bearers but also encompasses what each sex finds biologically appealing in a healthy population, which serves as further motivation to assume those roles and responsibilities.

(If individuals choose not to play this traditional game, they can still live genuinely fulfilled lives by dedicating themselves to careers and roles that support the collective — contributing to the duties required to maintain order of Earth or reproduction of our species, and not just for selfish reasons of wealth, status, or power — provided adequate recognition and appreciation for their efforts is given.)

However, this is not the case everywhere around the world and seems to only happen, or start to happen, by the upper and middle class, primarily in the countries that are most dominant, before the idea starts to spread. This is generally because of the protection and privilege the population gets with not having to live with the constant fear and stress of survival. Over generations, this privilege creates a new threat: skewed perspectives develop when people no longer have to rely on their biological strengths. They start adopting different thoughts, skills, traits, and personalities — which isn't a bad thing, when balanced. However, these strengths are usually developed as a coping mechanism in response to their environment or a lack of guidance, which doesn't become a problem or obvious until they are met with an inherent danger without the protection of the state.

This protection creates a reliance on the government to "save us," replacing these old traditions and religions with political ideologies that people now put their faith in. These ideologies are usually presented to gather votes rather than to benefit the population — an outcome only possible in a democracy. (Most modern democracies are fake, given the limits on actual involvement or choice in leadership the general population has.) The consequences have shown over many years: rising divorce rates, falling marriage and birth rates, a lack of community and connection, and an increase in selfishness and hedonism — alongside rising crime and division, and declining health, wealth, and reasons to live for the majority.

How do we reconcile with purpose?

This has created a sense of pressure and desperation for some people to look for purpose anywhere that can satisfy this unsatisfied feeling. This is seen with the resurrection of traditional ideas of some religious movements, new age spirituality, psychedelics, and similar pursuits, which may provide some insights and a mystical experience that could help people feel more connected with this world, though it will not provide the complete solution towards purpose.

Most of the time, people who preach and talk about purpose, or try to help others find their purpose, end up using it as a way to motivate someone in the things they are already doing by tying it to what the person values. This only makes people more selfish, rather than getting them to focus on their contributions towards something beyond themselves. Purpose is not tied to what you want. It is tied to being useful, not only to your immediate family and community but in line with humanity's intrinsic purpose of maintaining order of Earth.

I understand we cannot escape the material game completely, and that competition is natural. There will always be people who are better or worse off due to individual differences, which only becomes a problem when we neglect the spiritual endeavour and judge our lives and others solely on where we sit in the current social hierarchy. This is what produces major dysfunction even within families, through this selfish hyper-competitive game.

Two things can dramatically change this. First, we need to start sacrificing some of our current luxuries, pleasures, and false desires that support the current system, and consciously spend our time, money, and energy on things that are purposeful. This allows us to do the second thing: move away from jobs and work that do not serve us or humanity, work taken on just to make a certain amount of money and uphold a certain lifestyle to please others.

This is easier said than done. It requires us to individually detach from the ego, the way we perceive ourselves, the world, and our relation to it, and go through a transformation by relearning and searching for truth, regardless of how it makes us feel. Unless we slow down, we will not be able to contemplate these important things in life. Instead, we will continue to believe the bullshit that is fed to us, because it is easier to accept things than to question them, let alone be the only one questioning them. We are social beings, and corrupt people know this, which is why the benefits of an easier life are so heavily incentivised.

End note:

Hopefully this has made you contemplate what is going on around you and now want to help contribute towards creating a new universal philosophy on the optimal way to structure society from top to bottom. This change will not happen in a single generation. Regardless, it still requires us to sacrifice in order to get started. So, ask yourself:

• Are you contributing to maintain order of Earth?

• Are you taking responsibility for your own health?

• Are you making sure you learn how the financial and legal system works?

• Are you educating yourself on history, other than what you are being told?

• Are you useful to your family and your larger community?

• Are you living with and towards purpose?

The diagnosis is the easy part. What follows is the framework I am attempting to put in its place. But before we get there, we need to go deeper — into the forces that have been quietly shaping the problem all along.