There is no explicitly agreed upon objective function for humanity. However there is kind of a default one baked into our DNA and it's the desire to reproduce a

There is no explicitly agreed upon objective function for humanity. However there is kind of a default one baked into our DNA and it's the desire to reproduce and see our offspring reproduce. Modern society is conflicted however because enlightenment philosophy, which is baked into everything, as well as some Eastern traditions teaches us that knowledge or enlightenment is the highest virtue. So when it comes to agreeing on how to align society from the perspective of governance, time allocation, what to promote socially etc.. we have this existential crisis where people try to saddle the fence between reproduction (aka "family") and enlightenment style "progress."