I think this is well thought-out and it goes in a lot of directions because one direction is not enough to describe where everyone is going or trying to go.

>The best advice I can give, as always, is to experiment.

Same conclusion I seem to have so many times for so many reasons :)

I accept that work was already meaningless before anybody living was even born, so since we came along we've been living with the future the whole time.

>industrial factory-style work

>We all know what that soulless pit does to a person.

Depending on those who run the factory, it can be just as crushing as working in many a corporate office building.

Makes a big difference who owns the corporation either way.

Sometimes the most creative builders are simply going to build no matter what and it doesn't really matter what efforts are compensated, as long as there is some element providing adequate cash flow, then it's full steam ahead creating wildly.

Excellent craftsmen who are going to build something every day anyway can often take pride in what they mass-produce as clock-punchers on the factory floor, at the same time not having to focus on monetizing any of their other creative efforts allows more leeway than they would have otherwise.

I guess you could say no matter what you do there's always some force at work to make it meaningless for some reason or another, whether that force was largely applied before you got there, or came along afterward is not easy to pinpoint when it's like a continuum.

But when big waves are rolling in, it can be overwhelming being a small fish in a big sea, and wonder where the current may take you, like everyone else and what's it going to be like there.