I think we'd all be spending more time doing things that are "worthwhile" if we felt like they were worth the while. As it stands, I think the vacuousness of modern day life is hiding in plain view. Why put more effort in at work if it just amounts to a lifetime of toil for only the chance at a few years of rest far outside of your prime? Why bother learning something when you have the keen sense that a thousand other people are already working on it who are more talented and resourced than you? Long story short, we live in a world now that doesn't much value people but rather strives to capitalize on the value that people represent. Corporations and institutions have been given relatively free reign to kick people below the belt of their attention and to try and squeeze another ounce of effort, however misdirected, out of them. It's all a numbers game.