Most people lose their raison d'être by the age of 35 or 40

The post about "generational connections" unexpectedly resonated, but some perceived it as a tragedy.

1. Usually, few people find meaning before the age of 30, often in the form of dreams. However, some people devote their lives to their offspring.

2. Nevertheless, it can be said with confidence that the majority of the population doesn't generate any deep meanings, but instead follows the usual pursuits centered around sex, money, children, and well-being.

3. Consequently, for those over 50, these meanings largely become exhausted, leaving them with grandchildren, politics, gardening, TikTok, flat-earth theories, elderly parents, and growing health issues.

4. Many people over 50 begin to reach out to their children and grandchildren because they have few, if any, significant meanings of their own.

5. As a result, people start to live through the meanings of the younger generation, which often leads to disappointment, as I discussed in my previous post.

Yes, for those accustomed to following external meanings, this can be a tragedy, especially in countries where elderly care is increasingly handed over to robots due to a large market.

6. However, for creative people, this problem doesn't exist at all, because creativity knows no age. While the focus of creativity may shift with age, its essence remains unchanged. Moreover, as more people engage in creative activities, they are less likely to worry about lacking connections with previous generations.

7. I know many people in their 50s and 60s who have very different relationships with their parents and children. For creators and writers, this is usually not a problem. Yes, interaction with grandchildren (if they have any) is a pleasant bonus, but grandparents do not try to impose their meanings on their grandchildren. Many grandmothers still prioritize feeding their grandchildren, while any attempts to "teach and influence" often meet with hidden aggression from the parents, i.e., the children who have often written off their own parents. This causes suffering.

8. This suffering is again alleviated by creativity and meaning. Most people lose their raison d'être by the age of 35 or 40. This issue is exacerbated by the decline of old religious narratives, and the new ones, like cryptocurrency, do not inspire the young "elders."

This is why I find it difficult to attend various local gatherings of nice people who have long avoided asking themselves why they live and what they dream about. (A Birkin bag and a tourist trip are not dreams.)

9. It all comes down to a choice: a person follows a dream or follows common narratives. Naturally, 99.99% follow common narratives and more or less arrange their lives. But they lose inner meaning, trying to fill the void with external meanings, primarily through their children.

10. Suddenly, it turns out that they are not needed by their children for reasons described in the previous post. The fundamental reason for this is the inevitable acceleration of progress and the resulting rapid transformation of lifestyles, values, consumer desires, role models, strategies, and life practices.

A new market emerges to fill this growing void for a significant portion of those over 40. The solution or product must be a relatively new ontology (new terms and language, but the same old insights).

Since people have become noticeably smarter and can't be lured by simple conspiracy theories like flat-earth, the solution must be something metaphysical yet easy to accept without self-deception.

11. I see this only in a gaming metaphor, which has excellent explanatory power, organically connecting any STEM approaches, as well as dramaturgy and game design, thus explaining any phenomena.

However, the main value of the gaming metaphor is that it fills each person with individual meaning, giving everyone their unique raison d'être, not a one-size-fits-all like traditional religions, but an absolutely unique one, creating conditions for the constructive resolution of any social conflicts.

Because in a game, there are no conflicts, only players, each with their unique game trajectory. What is perceived as conflict at the NPC level is just another challenge for the player (and thus a reward beyond simple dopamine).