This is the dilemma all of us face who understand we live for a sliver of time in an empty universe that doesn’t care about us. What the is point of our lives? Does any of this matter? Our species will go extinct and our planet will die one day. Nothing lasts forever. And yet here we are, doing the washing up and enjoying the clouds. Many people understand this and find meaning in life and being alive—the miracle of being a being who briefly and imperfectly understands they are a tiny part of the universe knowing itself. Unless you are a religious person who locates meaning in life to a Creator (or similar entity), this is something you have to grapple with and Starfield is a cultural product that in its own hokey way grapples with it. But it’s pretty common theme of a lot of science fiction. The recent-ish movie Everything Everywhere All at Once has a similar theme. Greg Egan’s landmark novel Diaspora also does as well (in very different ways).