Why does our culture value work and materialism so much? Why do the vast majority of people in civilizations today work nearly 40 hours per week when we have the most tools and advanced technology ever in human history? And why are so many peoples’ identities and happiness associated with work and materialism? The purpose of this essay is to explore the modern fetishization of work and materialism in the context of human cultural evolution. I will explore scientific studies from multiple domains—anthropology, history, psychology, neuroscience, and economics—to provide an integrative snapshot. By looking for convergence from different lines of inquiry, we can arrive at a consensus about work, materialism, ambition, competition, inequality, and cross-cultural social structures.

In Being in Time, philosopher Martin Heidegger writes about existence, being in the world, and living an authentic life. In this essay, I will first assess Heidegger’s writings and arguments about Dasein, Being-in-the-world, Being-toward-death, and the “They”. I will analyze Heidegger’s notions of how to live an authentic life, and will raise objections and present explanations around desires in evolutionary biology.

I will divide this essay into three parts; firstly, realizing evolution and humanity to understand how we arrived at modern work; secondly, exploring the different types of work based on creativity, technicality, and ownership, and their relationship to subjective meaning; and thirdly, envisioning probable futures and understanding the possible human implications of increased automation. Ultimately, I will argue that meaning is just stories that humans tell themselves based on biological desires and purposes to make sense of the sentient experience.