Every person, beginning with puberty but continuing for some time thereafter, makes up his (and grammatically, this includes "her") mind as to what he is living for. Most people decide this rather consciously early in life, and then stay the course.

They may decide that they live for, and in the sense of, a religion. Or they decide in favor of another ideology or philosophy. They decide consciously in as they are largely aware of when, and under what circumstances, they knowingly decided for a certain "sense" for their lives.

But they are not aware of why they decided for a certain religion, ideology, or philosophy.

The point is: people largely make decisions on their "sense" in life based on their desire to be accepted members in their communities. For young people, it is of utmost importance to be regarded as "good quality" among their peers, as their mating chances depend on this. And during puberty and in the years thereafter, mating chances are the one thing that counts most in life.

Make no mistake: young people can even adopt religions, ideologies, and philosophies which have the immediate effect of denying them mating chances. They do this if adherence to such religions, ideologies, and philosophies earns them high respect in their communities. And they may decide for sexually restrictive religions, ideologies, or philosophies because in most cases, the denial of mating chances is not 100 percent, and adherence to such a sexually restrictive religion, ideology, or philosophy will eventually be rewarded with at least a limited mating opportunity (which is better than none).

It's often but a trade off: forego mating chances in the short term, and thereby earn respect within your community. If you are well-respected (for your abstention), then your market value will rise, and your mating chances later on will be better.

Anyway you turn it, the only thing that really counts, for young people and also later in life, are mating opportunities. If the awareness of this connection between esoteric decisions and biological drives is generally improved, more people, especially young people, hopefully decide for the direct route (sexual liberation), rather than the indirect route (conforming to religious, ideological, or philosophical trends in order to improve their market value, and later being rewarded with mating chances).