the great game

It is considered normal to desire friendships, sex, children, and other common relations, simply because these are the traits which have persisted life to this moment in history. To participate and identify with this is simply to go with the flow. Thus many are sufficiently happy.

Other trends died out. Others do not identify with these traits, or prefer other traits, with or without the hypotheses that their preferred traits will be fitter in future environments.

Generally, the societies that survived have done so by down-regulating the latter, so it is unsurprisingly that they continue to so. 

That is the great game.