Life is a complex bucket full of unknowns. You put your hand into the murky water, continuously wondering what you’ll find. Some days it’s a few golden coins; other times it’s a slimy electric eel that’s not too happy to be disturbed. Thing is, you can’t avoid shoving your hand in it, elbow-deep, as it is part of the human experience. 

Those said experiences can be very nicely summed up in 280 characters or less, as over 368 million monthly active users worldwide do so on a daily basis. Twitter is the place to be if you want to get immersed in chaos, but for those of us that can’t handle the extent of it, this social media page called “Tastefully Offensive” shares the most painfully relatable tweets out there. 

The page’s slogan is “The True Memeing Of Life.” But what is it actually like to be a human? What is the purpose of it all? Is there a purpose at all to be sat in front of your glowy screen, using your hands to swipe across a bit of glass for hours on end, just to get a hit of happiness? Lots of questions, and I don’t know if we’ll find any answers, but let’s try!

The “human condition” can be defined as the features and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. Sometimes it is even referred to as the meaning of life, and, not surprisingly, this topic has intrigued and perplexed the minds of philosophers, religious figures, and scientists alike. 

Buddhism teaches that existence is a perpetual cycle of suffering, death, and rebirth from which humans can be liberated via the Noble Eightfold Path. Meanwhile, many Christians believe that humans are born in a sinful condition and are doomed in the afterlife unless they receive salvation through Jesus Christ.

Philosophers have provided many perspectives on the meaning of life. Many know of René Descartes’ quote, “I think, therefore I am.” He believed the human mind, particularly its faculty of reason, to be the primary determiner of truth. One modern school, existentialism, attempts to resolve an individual’s sense of disorientation and confusion in a universe believed to be absurd. 

Perhaps more fundamental concepts summarize the more universal aspects of the human condition: 1. An awareness of the inevitability of suffering and death, 2. An understanding of evil and sin, and 3. The recognition of an intelligent being who intervenes in human affairs. 

The more we grow, the more of these we realize, as well as the absolute fact of how fragile life is. There is, inherent in the human condition, an uneasiness as we search for peace and calm. As William James says, “There is something wrong about us as we naturally stand.” Material possessions, no matter how plentiful, cannot make us happy, and thus, we search for more. 

On the other side of the same coin, we have nihilism, a philosophy that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. Essentially, life is meaningless, human values are baseless, and knowledge is impossible. 

It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. Among philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is most often associated with nihilism. For Nietzsche, there is no objective order or structure in the world except what we give it. 

A common thread in the literature of the existentialists is coping with the emotional anguish arising from our confrontation with nothingness, and they expended great energy responding to the question of whether surviving it was possible. Passionate commitment, be it to conquest, creation, or whatever, is itself meaningless. Welcome to nihilism.