The Short Version

Nobody knows what we're supposed to be doing. Not your parents, not philosophers, not religious leaders, not scientists. Everyone's working from the same uncertainty.

There are at least three live possibilities. There might be an objective purpose we have not discovered. There might be no objective purpose, but still real human purposes we can build together. Or there might be no final purpose at all.

So instead of arguing metaphysics first, we can ask a practical question: what policy works best across all three possibilities?

A strong policy is: keep searching for what is true, and build a life that is already worth living while you search.

Under deep uncertainty, our meta-purpose is to improve our model of what is worth doing.

That's not a final truth claim. It's a decision rule. We keep updating our direction with better evidence, better arguments, and better moral understanding.

Search has costs, so it has to be bounded. Protect your baseline needs. Do not postpone life forever in the name of future clarity. Commit to relationships, craft, and service while continuing to learn.

This changes how you decide. Open opportunities, but do not worship optionality. Build resources as tools, not identity. Work with others. And remember the moral scope is broader than "my wins" — affected sentient beings count.

That's the whole idea. If you want the full argument — the nuances, the objections, the practical implications — read the essay.

What should we be doing? Let's find out.