Millennials and Nihilism

[EJCC]

Got this thread idea from two things: firstly, this article in the New York Times today, and secondly, a recent episode of WNYC's "Radiolab" podcast/radio show, hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. Below is the closest I could get to a transcript/summary -- as well as a link to the podcast.

In The Dust Of This Planet - Radiolab

Horror, fashion, and the end of the world … things get weird as we explore the undercurrents of thought that link nihilists, beard-stroking philosophers, Jay-Z, and True Detective.

Today on Radiolab, a puzzle. Jad’s brother-in-law wrote a book called 'In The Dust of This Planet'.

It’s an academic treatise about the horror humanity feels as we realize that we are nothing but a speck in the universe. For a few years nobody read it. But then …

It seemed to show up on True Detective.

Then in a fashion magazine.

And then on Jay-Z's back. How?

We talk nihilism with Eugene Thacker & Simon Critchley, leather jackets with June Ambrose, climate change with David Victor, and hope with the father of Transcendental Black Metal - Hunter Hunt Hendrix of the band Liturgy. Special thanks to Thrill Jockey for use of the Liturgy song 'Generation'.

Thoughts/opinions/feelings/etc? Does this resonate?

My thoughts are below, in spoiler tags.

I don't think I've ever listened to a radio story / podcast story and had it resonate so strongly with me. I'm a millennial, and I have had a similar love/hate, drawn towards/disgusted with, etc, relationship with nihilism. After spending my entire undergraduate career studying international political theory, history/historiography, and economics, I have grown very pessimistic about our current trajectory. Losing most of my hope regarding which ideals and goals are possible, and what levels of human darkness and evil are inevitable and impossible to avoid.

Additionally: In one anecdote near the end of the podcast, a professor mentions how they recently taught a class on mysticism, and their class full of students were more interested -- almost hungrily so -- than any class of students that they'd taught previously. With mysticism, of course, being an escape towards oneness with perfect love, and away from an imperfect and hateful world. This resonated VERY strongly with me because I had nearly exactly the same experience when I studied Islamic mysticism for a few semesters in college.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

I think it might be a phase or particular cultural trait based on this generation being overexposed to electronic devices.

It's a hunch though so take it with a grain of salt. The internet can make someone feel small.

Before the internet the world felt bigger, more dangerous, but certainly more of an adventurous proposition. We are no pushing towards the frontiers and boundaries of our geographic existence so I think this is a phenomena related to that...