Problem
Meaninglessness
Experimental visualization of narrower problems
Other Names:
AimlessnessFutility
Inanity
Insignificance
Nullity
Purposelessness
Rubbish
Senselessness
Pointlessness
Dependence on meaninglessness
Lack of purpose
Lack of ambition
Nature:
There is a general sense of lack of meaning and purpose which dominates literature, art and philosophy. There is a feeling that the certainties provided by religion have been lost and can never be replaced. Science by solving our practical problems only makes this inner void more painfully obvious. Inevitably those who are most aware of this sense of meaninglessness feel alienated from society but although they respond to negative stimuli (pain, inconvenience and loss of freedom), freedom from these stimuli reveals their lack of purpose and incapacity for freedom.
Background:
The problem brought into existence the philosophy of existentialism which only confirmed the dimensions of the problem.
Narrower Problems:
Spiritual voidUnauthentic peaceCorruption of meaningMeaningless recreationMeaningless literatureMeaningless literatureTokenistic meeting resolutionsMeaningless conservation statusMeaningless corporate engagementUnmeaningful relationships to placeUnmeaningful social roles for the agedLack of meaningful personal and social paradigmsLack of meaningful personal and social paradigmsLack of meaningful educational context for ethical decisions Related Problems:
ChanceDiseaseDeclineIgnoranceAbsurdityImpairmentImproprietyEconomic apathyMental illness InfluencelessnessBadness Aggravates:
BoredomAddictionForgetfulnessDeath instinctUncommunicativenessSearch for individualistic meaningBlind belief in a homogenous realityApopheniaChronic illness Reduced By:
Inappropriate ambitionsStrategies:
Searching for meaningMaking senseUsing nonsenseCreating meaningBeing definitiveTreating rotEnjoying absurdityUsing meaninglessnessDescribing insignificanceProviding sufficient purposeAbstaining from purpose References:
Carr, Karen L: The Banalization of Nihilism: twentieth-century responses to meaninglessnessErwin, Edward: The Concept of Meaninglessness Subject(s):
Societal Problems → DependenceSocietal Problems → Scarcity
Societal Problems → Waste
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
A: Abstract Fundamental Problems Date of last update
21.10.2019 – 18:07 CEST