Being a human means coping with systemic futility. Systemic futility comprises:

1) Repetitive acts of living
2) The hedonic treadmill phenomena of finding "novel" goods in life that can't last
3) Being deprived of some preference or state at almost all time (deprivationalism)
4) The emptiness behind all pursuits

Being a human means coping with the conundrum of death which is the idea that:

1) Once you are living, you can never be released with death as there will be no "you" to feel the release of death.
2) Much of what is thought of relief is really just ideation- a projection of experience after death

Being a human means we often try to work through systemic futility utilizing Zapffe's model of 4-part defense mechanisms (from Wikipedia):

Isolation is "a fully arbitrary dismissal from consciousness of all disturbing and destructive thought and feeling".[3]

Anchoring is the "fixation of points within, or construction of walls around, the liquid fray of consciousness".[3] The anchoring mechanism provides individuals a value or an ideal that allows them to focus their attentions in a consistent manner. Zapffe also applied the anchoring principle to society, and stated "God, the Church, the State, morality, fate, the laws of life, the people, the future"[3] are all examples of collective primary anchoring firmaments.

Distraction is when "one limits attention to the critical bounds by constantly enthralling it with impressions".[3] Distraction focuses all of one's energy on a task or idea to prevent the mind from turning in on itself.

Sublimation is the refocusing of energy away from negative outlets, toward positive ones. The individuals distance themselves and look at their existence from an aesthetic point of view (e.g., writers, poets, painters). Zapffe himself pointed out that his produced works were the product of sublimation.

Focusing on the second defense mechanism of anchoring- this is the defense mechanism of the wonder-filled science enthusiast. The pursuit of knowledge through the scientific endeavor and technological innovation may be just another anchor.. a hope-vine to swing through life so as not to face too much thoughts on systemic futility and the like.