Back a step. You presuppose the possibility of a point, but is there still such a possibility?

This seems like a weird, almost metaphysical question, but I've been coming back to it a lot lately.

Is the goal financial independence? If so, there are much more efficient, risk-off ways of getting that. (For example, a nursing degree, or a red seal in plumbing.) You are choosing to work in grindhouse conditions with no union or safety net, where ageism or just burnout will eventually make you unhireable. There is only so much 996 in a person, and the winners take all. Most of the easy wins are behind us.

Ok then, maybe it isn't for the money, then. So is it to usher in the future? Be the hand that twists the dial?

But in that case, what compels you to believe that you've identified a worthwhile future to blithely endorse? The laws of unexpected consequences are binding, and the judgments are severe.

Is it for the love of the activity, then? The making? Well, that part's been automated this past year or three, so at best you will be a restaurant critic, not a chef.

I'm not sure the magic is still vital.