Roy, this is one of the most articulate comments I've seen in a long time (on Medium or anywhere else on line)

I was trying to think of an answer that pointed toward an integration of cognitive (values) and affective (feeling) factors, but hadn't quite thought of it in the way you've so eloquently stated.

I would add one more step. Since at least the late 1800s, as mechanistic science ascended to prominence, the basic underlying value system in the developed world (and increasingly, throughout the world) is a nihilistic one devoid of meaning ("meaning" in both the cognitive and affective senses).

The revolution in the past 10 years in science - acknowledging the possibility that consciousness is something fundamental in the universe - is to me, the single greatest sign of a hopeful change which can lead to meaningful (pun intended) increases in our values and associated feelings of meaning and purposefulness.

If the universe is essentially non living, non conscious, without intelligent, purpose or direction, then any values or meanings that we develop have no rational foundation.

If the universe is in fact characterized by some kind of fundamental consciousness, this changes everything.