Your question may be impossible to answer since I suspect that what is &quot;profoundly important&quot; varies enormously between individuals but I will try anyway.<p>Speaking for myself I believe there is something incredibly unique in the way humans devote incredible amounts of energy to aspects of life that aren&#x27;t inherently necessary to survival but nonetheless add to the richness of our lives. Art and music are examples of things that while not required for life, certainly make life more interesting.<p>The human drive to explore the places beyond the horizon and to expand our knowledge are things I would certainly describe as of profound importance, even if they don&#x27;t have immediate direct benefits, although often times they do.<p>In the end I think JFK put it best in his 1962 speech at Rice:<p><i>We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win…</i>