Humanity has had big big challenges up until maybe about the industrial revolution. Then we had us a couple of wars to deal with. The post-war period has been a

Humanity has had big big challenges up until maybe about the industrial revolution. Then we had us a couple of wars to deal with. The post-war period has been a new era of human evolution, one in which survival is a given for most people, expansion through conquer and war is mostly out of the question, and even scientific discovery - yes - has seemed to plateau in recent decades. Not to say all of these things affect some people, but each of these is diminished on a population scale. With industrial agriculture there is a lot of food to go around, nuclear weapons make total war a thing of the past, and the low-hanging fruit of scientific endeavor has been picked. Major advances come from large teams with big funding, much more than, say, the enlightenment or the industrial revolution. Most people alive today in first world nations face no existential threat or deep motivation for betterment, not like in the past history of humanity. In the history of humans, this is not normal, we're built for striving and surviving, and fighting each other for territory and resources. We have been honed through thousands of generations to be ambitious and cut-throat and daring. But the future calls for a different ethos, one of efficiency and moderation. One where economies cannot grow indefinitely, and wars cannot be waged. Where people can find meaning outside of labor, as pretty soon we won't need human labor - physical or mental. The more likely scenario is that we will see a regression before that future hits us, the expansionary drive is too ingrained in the human psyche and societal norms. War will come, sooner or later, and give a 'purpose' to the world. And I fear this is unavoidable.