I think the metric is different per individual. Progress. I have settled, after years of wonder and experiencing, that we are indeed in a the most incredible classroom. An experience machine. We Temporarily inhabit a meat suit perfectly designed to navigate the machine and initiate the types of experiences that bring about the lessons we have opted to learn. Amnesia of self leads to fear of the unknown, which in turn manifests as a fear of death. It keeps us in the classroom, because if we remembered who we are we would leave at the first sign of discomfort or struggle, and fail to learn anything. Because where we come from is pure satisfaction with no duality, and doesn’t suck. The story of the meat suit is evolution, at some point we just hop into one.