Why We Need Ideals
Article By Sabine Leitner
A landmark study by the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Gen Z (ages 18 to 25) found that 58% reported experiencing ‘little or no purpose or meaning in their lives’. Half of the respondents explicitly stated that their mental health was being actively harmed by ‘not knowing what to do with their life’. This lack of meaning was directly connected to anxiety and depression rates which were twice as high as those of younger teenagers.
Why do so many young people, who live comparatively comfortable lives, suffer this real and debilitating crisis of meaning? Academics call it a lack of purpose, direction and core values; or the lack of an ‘organizing life aim’. I would call this the absence of an ideal. When a young person says they have “no purpose”, they are functionally saying, “I do not perceive a higher ideal worth organizing my life around”.
Not having an ideal is like having a detailed map of life, but without having any clue as to where to go. And “if you don’t know where to go, it doesn’t matter where you go”, as the Cheshire cat says in Alice in Wonderland. Without an ideal, life seems nothing but a series of isolated events: work, eat, scroll, sleep, repeat… And because these events are not connected to something higher that would give it meaning, they feel trivial and don’t fulfil us. Whereas with an ideal, even our most mundane actions are linked to something larger, enduring and valuable. An ideal enables us to connect with something that is universal, like an archetype, that can give meaning and a context to what we are doing.
Why have the myths of heroes been so popular for hundreds of years and appear in modernized versions such as Harry Potter, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings? Because they frame difficulties as character-building trials and connect us with the idea that life is about actualizing our potential and overcoming limitations. If we can see our difficulties in this light, it will not only make us more resilient, but it will also give meaning to our efforts and change our relationship with the world.
There is a parable about three stone cutters that shows how our sense of meaning changes when we are working for an ideal. A traveller approaches three people doing the same work on a big construction site and asks each of them what they were doing. The first one replies: “I am cutting stones”. The second one: “I am building a wall”. And the third one: “I am building a cathedral”. All three do exactly the same work, but their perspectives transform everything. For some it’s a meaningless activity, for some their work is a contribution to something higher.
An example from real life shows something similar: according to many sources, coal miners viewed their incredibly dangerous work not just as a job, but as an essential public service for the whole nation – “we are keeping Britain warm!” They were able to see their work in the light of this ideal and this made their work meaningful and they took pride in what they were doing.
People often mistakenly believe that meaning comes from achieving things. But achievement only brings a temporary spike in dopamine, followed quickly by an empty feeling. If our sense of meaning is tied to concrete outcomes like a specific job, a specific relationship, or a specific amount of money, our meaning is very fragile. When we lose the job or the relationship, we will also lose our meaning.
Whereas an ideal cannot be destroyed by external circumstances or cease to exist. An ideal is like the permanent North Star guiding our actions because an ideal exists in the realm of metaphysical concepts (like the archetype of the hero). ideals are not a destination but a compass.
The absence of ideals leads to apathy and a profound sense of ‘why bother?’ It leads to a sense of ‘existential suspension’, and people describe feeling like a rudderless ship. They are moving, working and paying bills, but they have no sense of direction. Some quietly withdraw from great dreams. Many become cynical. When we can’t connect to a higher ideal, people often declare that the ideal itself is a lie. If you don’t take anything seriously, then you can’t be disappointed when it fails. Others become numb and paralyzed. Or try to substitute meaning for excitement, chasing a dopamine high through compulsive consumerism, drugs or thrill-seeking. It is not difficult to see all these symptoms around us.
This quote by the English philosopher and historian Arnold Toynbee seems to point towards a solution: “Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice.”
Image Credits: By Joshua Woroniecki | Pexels | CC BY PD
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By Joshua Woroniecki | Pexels | CC BY PD
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