I'll ignore the argument that alchemy was a precursor to modern science. An iron man version of 'lead to gold' is that it was never about literally turning lead

I'll ignore the argument that alchemy was a precursor to modern science. An iron man version of 'lead to gold' is that it was never about literally turning lead to gold (which modern science can do). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy 'Esoteric interpretations of historical texts' From this lens, alchemy becomes a form of spiritual meditation. You can argue that such things are meaningless endeavors. But this is itself a subjective take. What are meaningful endeavors really? If I want to take a nihilistic frame, I'll strengthen your comment and say it's impossible to avoid meaningless endeavors. Inevitably one must pick their bias and arrive at their narrative.