He's questioning the point of them being out there all this time when space is infinite at the beginning of the film. I'd say that's disillusionment.
Because he lacks a reason to keep him in the chair. A higher sense of purpose. He is still a rebel without a cause, crashing a car into a canyon after a joyride. Which means, he hasn't grown.
A real-world example: as a man who works a menial job as a stock person and cashier, on days I don't want to do the boring tasks I remember my life without a job. I remember the gifts of freedom (even to fail) and Democracy handed to me, the inventions and discoveries, the responsibility to hand this to the next generation, whether I have kids, or not. It was given to me through hard-work and sacrifice and blood. "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave" is my last vision on the way out the door. There is a speech I am drawn towards: We honor (soldiers) not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service. A willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves....It is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all! For as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination upon which this nation depends.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new, but those values upon which our success depends--honesty and hard-work, courage and fair-play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism--these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
So let us mark this day with rememberance of who we are, and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months a small band of Patriots huddled on the banks of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our Revolution was most in-doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger came forth to meet it!"
Let us remember these timeless words. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end. That we did not turn back nor did we falter, and with eyes fixed on the horizon, and God's Grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations!"
I am just one man in a society birthed by the Enlightenment. An experiment in governments. The rest of the world was not lucky enough to be born there. It is my duty to help, to keep our values, and one of them is to work hard, consistently.
I have bills to pay, roommates to help, and dreams to fulfill. But, the fact is, that isn't the only reason to get out of bed. I have to play my role in this society. And, if that means picking up an extra shift, cutting back on power, volunteering on a campaign, so be it.
And this patriotism is an ideal, a necessary channeling of energies, when I don't feel like doing it. It can be God, it can be patriotism, the Enlightenment, family, lineage, making the world a better place, or in Star Trek's case--exploration.
These maps will be used for the rest of time..His "disillusionment" is because there's no thrill in the dutiful, hard-work, discipline, and consistency necessary to commit to any task. He's without a purpose. It means he never channeled it into exploration, and, therefore, he is lost unless saving the Enterprise and crew and world or universe. That is the joyride, which is why "Sabotage" plays over the swarm being destroyed.
So, again, why wouldn't Kirk, the protector, not agree with Krall, that we need a military, leave exploration behind, and stop being an explorer? Even if he doesn't agree with his methods?
By the end of the film he is no closer. Two months from now, while mapping a star system, he'll be bored, again.
Again, not enough growth.
