by choice or by "design?"
I think it a false dichotomy.
Everything is meaningless and full of meaning at the same time. There is an emptiness at the center of things that defines everything that it is not. There is somethings that you just can name and it is better that way.
In greyhound racing, after a dog catches the mechanical rabbit, they say the dog will never race again.
The future is uncertain and the end is always near.