Since mankind became more physically settled with the Agricultural Revolution, most change had been glacially slow. Communities existed unchanged for centuries. Sure, things were generally more repressive and dangerous than they are now, but the basic units of a community, the family and village and religious institution, all endured. People’s lives were hard, but in important ways they were happy. Then, after the Industrial Revolution, change and advancement on all fronts exponentially took off, and life changed forever. The fields of psychology and neurology emerged amid industrialization, and starting in the mid-20th century, members of the “Greatest Generation” and then the Baby Boom generation commonly began to pop pills to drug their brains in order to feel happier. And with the onset of the 21st century, this rapid change intensified. Things that were taboo among most people suddenly became acceptable among most. (Not that any of this change is somehow wrong. It is good that we live in an era when people can more freely express their own unique identities).

In addition, the basic tools that are required in modern life, such as phones, computers, and the Internet, all become at least partly outdated in a short time and we need replacements. In the past, appliances and tools were built as if to practically withstand a nuclear blast; they would last perhaps 30 years before they had to be replaced. The fast, sometimes exponential advancement in more recent technology has, in my view, done particular harm.

Some technologies have virtually destroyed fabrics of community and society which had existed for millennia, leaving humans weak, scared, and impotent in a new, unnatural state.

With the intensification of societal change and technological development in our century, and with Generation Z having to grow up with so little concrete sense of identity and community, such extensive unhappiness in people our age has rapidly followed. The effects appear in many ways. Many of Generation Z, seeking meaning in life while feeling deeply unhappy, begin adhering to dangerous fringe ideologies, whether it be on the extreme left or the extreme right.

The culture of Generation Z is both watered-down and nihilistic, with its artists typically creating sad, soulless works. (Even its meme culture, a fundamental part of its identity, is surreal and meaningless. One needs only to Google deep-fried memes, photos with so many filters applied to them for comedic effect that their original point is lost, to see this.) The effects have been tragic, as members of Generation Z so often cope with their unhappiness by obsessive, and often addictive, consumption of alcohol, drugs, and sex.

What is the solution to Generation Z’s unhappiness? Does one even exist? I don’t know. I cannot say there is some antidote or silver bullet for this plague. The only solution I can see for our generation’s unhappiness would be to end the hyper-industrialized, hyper-connected, and Internet-oriented system of exponential growth and change. Maybe then, Generation Z, and the rest of humanity including those yet to be born, could find peace and contentment.