Nihilism (NY-uh-liz-um)
A light bulb went on for me this week. One of those moments where something you’ve been watching unfold for years suddenly connects the dots.
If you dig into this a little, I think it will click for you, too. Because what we are seeing play out every day is not random. There is a deeper pattern underneath it.
The word for it is nihilism, and I’d encourage anyone reading this to spend a little time looking into what it actually means.
In simple terms, nihilism is the belief that life has no real meaning, no solid truth, and no lasting purpose. It rejects the idea that morals, institutions, or even reality itself have real value. When that mindset takes hold, people stop believing in the future, stop trusting anything, and stop feeling like what they do truly matters.
This isn’t just a philosophy class concept anymore. It’s quietly becoming a common way many young people see the world, especially Gen Z.
At its core, the thinking starts to look like this:
Life has no real purpose
Nothing can be trusted
The system is broken beyond fixing
Why plan for a future that feels hopeless
When that takes hold across a generation, it shows up everywhere.
You see it in rising depression, anxiety, loneliness, and hopelessness.
You see it in deep mistrust of media, experts, leadership, and government.
You see it in relationships that feel disposable or impossible to maintain.
You see it in the “why bother saving or planning” mindset, replaced by chasing experiences, quick money, and risky behavior.
You see it in people checking out of society or swinging to extremes.
What really hit me is how this mindset touches every part of life:
How people view themselves
How they decide what is true
How they connect with others
How they think about money and stability
How they view society and leadership
Most people experience pieces of this without notice.
But when an entire generation carries it all at once, it reshapes culture.
And once you recognize it, a lot of what we are seeing suddenly makes sense.
This is not about blaming Gen Z. They didn’t create the world they grew up in.
They grew up in constant crisis, broken trust, social media pressure, economic stress, and a future that feels uncertain.
That environment fuels this way of thinking.
I’ll save the next part, how this shift can translate into real-world aggression and violence, for another post.
For now, I’d encourage you to look into nihilism for yourself and start noticing the pattern around you.
Once the light bulb turns on, you will see it everywhere.
Nihilism began gaining attention in the 1800s. Most famously explored by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who warned that as societies moved away from shared values and belief systems, many people would feel lost, disconnected, and hopeless, creating a crisis of purpose. Simply put, nihilism was less about theory and more a warning about what happens when a culture loses its anchors, a warning that feels increasingly relevant today.
