The quest for meaning might in itself be the thing that torments us. An animal or insect for that matter lives or is driven (as far as we know) by the natural impulses that he or she is obligated to follow until death, never once stopping to analyse their place in it all. The main difference between us and most other species could be that meaning has become a fundamental subjective need that is now driving us. As we separate ourselves further from nature, we are likely to move more and more into the subjective and feel like life is taking from us rather than giving us something. However, outside of some cataclysm, I think it would be difficult to rewind the clock. Let's not forget we are part of nature, behaving as nature does, to an end we cannot predict.