This is an interesting way to phrase it. I loved all of my jobs but one, and even that one wasn't terrible - I just traveled too much. But there were definitely times when I was forced to do the "grind" part of the job in order for the reward. I loved the job, but didn't love every task associated with the job.
I can speak a bit to the discussion about meaning. I retired at 40, but I continue to search for work in some form that will satisfy me. I stay busy, but as most at TMC can attest, not busy enough to stay away from here. I've always valued hard work and my identity has been very closely tied to being a "hard worker." Not having a long term job or a business that I'm creating has definitely made me feel like there's a hole somewhere in my life. I fill it with other things - family, travel, all of the work around my property - but I continue to struggle with it. The feeling is at its worst when someone asks what I do for a living.
Despite all of that, my life does have plenty of meaning. I take pleasure in my family and friendships and most everything that I do. The real question of meaning will be 30 years from now, looking back. Will I regret not having done more?
And that, I think gets to the risk of BMI. Even if we're all "retired", how do we measure productivity in a world where production is handled by robots? We can't have billions of innovators. When we all get to old age, what's the measure of a life well lived? It seems to me that it's going to have to be different than it is today, at least to some degree.
*Apologies for the personal stuff, but I felt it provided a bit of a window into the discussion.
I think the problem is that our society has reduced "meaningful existence" to "having a job" to the point where even meaningless assembly line or burger flipping jobs are called "meaningful". Some employees in these jobs have bought into this charade.
It will probably require a major reorientation of our value system for people to accept that they can have a meaningful life without having a job.
FWIW, here's some text from Wikipedia:
"Historically the study of meaningfulness in life has taken three routes. Victor Frankl's work emphasized finding value in an individual's life in order to attain meaningfulness. "Value" would be further subcategorized into three main areas: creative, experiential, and attitudinal. For all of these classes of values, it is because of one's sense of responsibility that one pursues these values and consequently experiences a meaningful life. It is through the realization that one is the sole being responsible for rendering life meaningful that values are actualized and life becomes meaningful.
Ernest Becker studied meaningfulness and its relationship to culture. According to Becker, a human's consciousness makes them aware of their own mortality.[3] In order to deal with their inevitable death, humans attempt to leave their mark in some symbolic act of immortality within the structured society, otherwise known as "Terror Management Theory". The structure created through society and culture provides humans with a sense of order. Through the structured society we are able to create a symbolic immortality which can take various forms, e.g., monuments, theatrical productions, children, etc. Culture's order reduces death anxiety as it allows the individual to live up to the societal standards and in living up to such ideals; one is given self-esteem which counterbalances the mortal anxiety.
Finally, Snyder examined the previous theories and operationalized meaningfulness as having more to do with self-control that leads to higher self-esteem. As one lives by societal standards of living, one exercises self-control and it is through this self-control that higher self-esteem is achieved. Meaning is found when one realizes that one is capable and able to effectively achieve their goals through successful management. Furthermore, Snyder specified control as: "a cognitive model whereby people strive to comprehend the contingencies in their lives so as to attain desired outcomes and avoid undesirable ones". From this feeling of control, meaningfulness is achieved when one feels able to effectively live his/her life and achieve goals."
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None of these definitions mentions a "job" as part of a meaningful life although some aspects of a job could contribute to each of the definitions.