Survival is not the goal

Survival is not the goal.

That doesn't mean to suggest that death or reckless behavior is called for.
Simply, survival is not the goal.

When running a set of linked equations and optimizing on survival you get one answer. Take that same set of linked equations and optimize on something other than survival and you'll get a different result.

I can't really put into exact words the nature of what that other thing would be. I can't put it into words for two reasons. One, the true nature of that other thing is non-human and thus can not be bound in a simple container of human language. Two, the exact nature of what that other thing could very well be different for me than it is for you.

So given that confession of wiggly-fuzziness consider the following as possible alternatives to survival as the goal:

Making the most of the life that one has been given.
Quality of life.
Contribution.
Communion with the underlying is-ness of it all.
Right action.
Not dying like a dog.
...
und-sew-forth

Somewhere in and amongst those phrases may lurk a valid alternative to survival as the goal.