Kevin Chen, Period 7, 3/14/24

Kevin Chen

Modern Mythology 2024

Period 7, 3/14/24

Blog #3

Nihilism, Apathy, and it's Problems    

    Nihilism is a theme that appears in John Gardner's Grendel, mostly during the Dragon's conversation with Grendel. The Dragon, being able to see all of time, considers Grendel's existential crisis to be meaningless. After all, if the universe will end regardless, why does Grendel's philosophy matter? Thus, he advises him to "seek out gold and sit on it". This is what the Dragon does, as he sits among piles of treasure in his cave. But the Dragon is not literally advising Grendel to do the same. Rather, the Dragon is encouraging Grendel to forget about existentialism and the philosophy of his existence, and pursue more material desires. By doing so, Grendel is supposed to forget about the suffering that came with questioning his existence, and gain new purpose in the form of materialistic fulfillment. 

     In some ways, Grendel has parallels to many people from today's younger generations. Faster spread of information via the internet combined with ever-growing social issues has lead many to simply give-up and turn apathetic towards things such as purchasing a home, local and global politics, higher education, work, having children. They question the purpose of all these common goals, and bare little to no ambition to pursue them.

    Many countries with hardcore society-first work cultures have issues with younger generations. Through movements on social media, many youth end up being very apathetic toward work and social contribution. An extreme example of this is China's "lying flat" movement, which popped up on social media a few years ago. China's work culture places value of ambition, effort, hardship, and struggle. "Lying flat" goes against all these ideals, in which the people behind it feel any effort or work is useless, and refuse to participate in 996 work culture (9am-9pm, 6 days a week). Rather, they opt to do the bare minimum at work or quit altogether.

    Even in countries with more relaxed work cultures and social pressures, lack of desire to struggle or put in effort still exists. Even in the U.S, there are people who don't want to work. Sure, a few of them may be simply lazy, but a decent portion are turned off by the current state of the workforce. While not nearly as intense as elsewhere, there are still expectations to give 110% effort, perform overtime, and strive to climb up the ladder. To some people, that ambition simply is not worth it.

    Another instance of growing nihilistic sentiment comes in the form of shifting sentiment towards reliance on parents. In the past, generally, the idea was that children move out at 18, go to college, and become independent. While that still exists now, it has broken down slightly. Many kids continue to rely on parents through and after college, and sometimes even live the basement of their home. Living in your parents basement still attracts negative comments, especially from the older generations, but some youth see it as a really comfortable and content way of living. In Chinese culture, for example, it is now attractive to either live with parents or live in an apartment supported by parents. Some even jokingly ask to be adopted so they can also live comfortably. In the past however, that kind of lifestyle was deeply shunned. 

    Rising housing costs turn the youth away from the idea of ever being able to own a home or even rent a decently priced apartment. An increasing average age for politicians causes the youth to be more disillusioned with the government, sparking distrust, lack of political interest, or even conspiracy theories. Worsening climate conditions and the constant bombardment of warnings from scientists lead some youth to even think humanity will end in the not far future. Their outlook on society is rather grim, so like the Dragon in Grendel, they choose to act for their own self enjoyment and desire rather than participate in society and progress.

    The societal problems were worsened significantly by the pandemic, and as of currently, there are no signs that they will be remedied. In fact, many more people likely joined this semi-nihilistic movement due to the pandemic, and its contribution to the bleakness of the world. Hundreds of thousands of people died due to coronavirus, and that mass loss of life has definitely taken a toll on the minds of everyone, especially the youth who are far more connected to information thanks to social media. Seeing death numbers rise constantly would no doubt cause disillusionment from the world in people, similar to the aftermath of the first world war in which the large death toll heavily impacted the returning soldier's minds. Surveys show motivation and ambition towards work or education has declined significantly following the pandemic across all ages, but especially in those under 29.    

    The disillusionment with the world has lead to another problem: the turn towards extremism. Plenty of youth who gave up on following the "normal" way of living as dictated by society turn to radical influencers on Youtube or TikTok. One such influencer, a certain former boxer turned radicalist turned Romanian inmate, rose to fame off of those that were seeking to find an non-mainstream way of living. By spouting nonsense such as "escaping the matrix" and lots of very radical and offensive things, he likely has led many people down a dark path. The quick rise and collapse of NFTs and cryptocurrencies may also be due to people searching for a way to escape the norms set by society and make a living in which they don't have to play by anyone else's rules.

    These issues have lead to some to jokingly refer to generation z as the "doomer generation". While non-participation in society is not a good thing, it is easy to understand where their apathy and nihilism comes from. While pursuing materialistic and easy to achieve short term happiness is fine, completely giving up ambition and desire to struggle to grow may not be. While internet extremism and lack of motivation can't be removed in its entirety, the situation as a whole can still be addressed. Something has to and should be done. In the end, however, these youth are pursuing the Dragon's advice in a way, like Grendel. They sought out gold, and sat on it.
 

Works Cited

Hall, M. (n.d.). Young adults are having a harder time finding the motivation to work during the  pandemic than their older peers. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/young-adults-struggling-motivation-covid-pandemic-pew-survey-2020-12 

Kerry, C. F., & Jacob Larson, J. S. D. (2021, July 8). The “lying flat” movement standing in the way of China’s Innovation Drive. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-lying-flat-movement-standing-in-the-way-of-chinas-innovation-drive/ 

Siegel, D., & Siegel, D. (2023, January 5). Generation doomer: How nihilism on social media is creating a new generation of extremists. GNET. https://gnet-research.org/2022/12/16/generation-doomer-how-nihilism-on-social-media-is-creating-a-new-generation-of-extremists/ 

Young people don’t want to work. now what? Dazed. (2022, December 13). https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/57766/1/young-people-dont-want-to-work-employment-gen-z-jobs-great-resignation