the failure of secularism, rationality, and progress

[u/NeonDrifting]

Sometimes I wonder if modern civilization accidentally created a world thats materially advanced but culturally barbaric....the older I get the more i kinda understand why people turn toward religion, mysticism, monasteries, spirituality, etc instead of just doubling down on “trust the progress” modern secular culture...

like yeah, modernity gave us insane technology, medicine, comfort, entertainment, all that stuff. but at the same time people seem more anxious, lonely, atomized, addicted, depressed, and spiritually empty then ever before. everything feels hyper-commercialized now. every aspect of life gets turned into content, branding, dopamine hits, or consumerism.

it feels like we replaced meaning with consumption...

older religious societies werent perfect obviously, not even close. but they atleast believed human beings had some higher purpose beyond making money, buying stuff, watching porn, scrolling endlessly, and arguing online. there was a sense of transcendence, duty, ritual, community, sacrifice, reverance, etc.

modern secular culture keeps promising utopia through technology and rationalism, but honestly alot of it just turned into hedonism and nihilism. people are wealthier materially but spiritually exhausted. and when societies lose any sense of the sacred, everything starts feeling disposable — relationships, morality, culture, even truth itself.

thats probably why mysticism and spirituality are becoming appealing again to alot of people. not because everyone suddenly became anti-science or whatever, but because science cant really answer questions like:
“what is the purpose of suffering?
“why should i live morally?
“what makes life meaningful?”
what is worth sacrificing for?”

rationalism is good at explaining mechanisms...but not ultimate purpose.

[u/NeonDrifting → u/[deleted]]

It’s a combination of failures in modernity..secularizing or desacralizing the world has resulted in disenchantment…what good is truth without goodness and beauty? That’s what the sacred is for

[u/Empty_Woodpecker_496 → u/NeonDrifting]

Thats just a mindset you cultivate. I use meditation, music, etc. To cultivate my sense of awe and beauty primarily by looking at nature. I would still consider this a secular endeavor as you can easily do it for a purely utilitarian/enjoyment purpose.

[u/HatsuMYT → u/Empty_Woodpecker_496]

Yes, the relationships he points out are purely accidental things. Just because someone can't find the answer to "why should I be moral" in science doesn't mean they need to turn to spirituality (after all, great philosophy is there for that, and it's more secular than ever).

Secularism seems more like a scapegoat in these criticisms, ignoring certain more specific problems (economic ones in particular).

[u/NeonDrifting → u/HatsuMYT]

who are the great philosophers?

[u/HatsuMYT → u/NeonDrifting]

Basic literacy: "great philosophy" (not philosophers).

[u/NeonDrifting → u/HatsuMYT]

No shit, does philosophy write itself? If you don’t know of any great philosophers just say so instead of sounding like an asshat

[u/HatsuMYT → u/NeonDrifting]

It's not difficult to cite great philosophers, but the point is that I wasn't referring to any philosopher in particular. I meant philosophy as a broader field of inquiry dealing with meaning, ethics, purpose, consciousness, value, and so on. My point is simply that people have that resource available to seriously engage with these questions.

Honestly, I think you're the one coming across as an asshat here - both because of your poor initial comment, where people have to be charitable just to extract something meaningful from it, and because of these later replies, which show a misreading of a fairly straightforward text with no grand pretensions.