> god-shaped hole This cliche phrase definitely takes me back! The problem here is of course that gods aren't capable of solving this kind of problem anyway;

> god-shaped hole This cliche phrase definitely takes me back! The problem here is of course that gods aren't capable of solving this kind of problem anyway; an external, instrumental purpose ('God made me to do X', or 'God created me to have Y effect on the world') isn't meaningful in the way people want intrinsic or subjective purposes to be anyway. In that sense religious institutions provide the same kind of earthly, banal, limited meaning that hackerspaces or secular charities or sports clubs or families do. But they're not any better at making existentialist yearnings well-formed than anything else is. I also don't think all that is necessary to explain the phenomenon at hand. That account is way too broad. Imo the drive here is more narrative; it's about making the stories of our lives make sense— often in the simple sense of making them unsurprising. Discovering a diagnosis can be very cathartic, and can (partially) explain lots of patterns and events from one's past. It also brings some relief because it tells us that we are not uniquely defective in our failings and points us towards examples of others who have managed to succeed or survive despite the same ailment. And it gives us a vocabulary for identifying similar people from whom we can learn and in whom we can find solidarity. All of those things being are rewarding and/or useful.