Our Crisis of Meaning

Headnote

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on the three major contemporary societal ills: aggression, addiction, and depression, which Viktor Frankl referred to, 50 years or more ago, as the mass neurotic triad. This cumbersome triad is now even more present in our lives, fueled at personal, societal and global levels by an "existential vacuum" or perception of meaninglessness. This article explains that the "crisis of meaning" many of us face today will only disappear when we start perceiving it as an opportunity, and adhere to the "call for meaning" it represents.

I've done some reflecting on what I call "Our Crisis of Meaning". Before I begin, let me underscore that within the Chinese symbol for the English word, "crisis," lies the very essence of "opportunity." Please keep this underlying meaning in mind as you read my "reflections" below."

Some 50 years ago, Viktor Frankl called attention to three major societal ills: aggression, addiction, and depression. He termed these problems the "mass neurotic triad," a kind of psychological axis of evil. Significantly, this triad comprised more than targets for psychiatric intervention (the views of Tom Cruise and Scientology notwithstanding). The mass neurotic triad was symptomatic of a contemporary world that was missing something; indeed, something vitally important to the nature of human existence itself. To Dr. Frankl, the problems of aggression, addiction, and depression could be traced, in large part, to an "existential vacuum" or perception that one's life, including one's work life, appeared to be meaningless. He observed that the existential vacuum was a widespread phenomenon of the 20th century and underscored that these...