The Question Echoing in Silence: “What are we doing here?”
- Understand the fundamental causes of burnout and alienation experienced by modern individuals.
- Discover three paths to find the meaning of life: ‘pause’, ‘connection’, and ‘creation’.
- Gain inspiration to create your own meaning of life through existential philosophy.
Why Are We Empty: A Society That Has Lost Meaning
On a quiet night, when I can’t sleep relying on the light of my smartphone or let out a deep sigh in a crowded subway, a sudden question arises: “What am I doing here?” This question is not just a simple philosophical reflection but a cry from the depths of our existence seeking the meaning of life. Like Kang Jun-gu, who worked at an advertising agency for 20 years and suddenly found it hard to breathe, we confront this question head-on at some point.
This article aims to explore why this question feels particularly urgent today, delving into the causes through social structures and personal experiences, and ultimately presenting a philosophical compass to find our own answers.
1. The Epidemic of Burnout: Exhaustion of the Soul
Burnout is not just simple fatigue; it is closer to the exhaustion of the soul. As successful musician Lee Jeok confessed one day that his music felt “too useless” and meaningless, burnout arises not from a lack of talent or success but from the loss of purpose.
I have also felt a similar sense of powerlessness. Even after sleeping, fatigue does not dissipate, and the intersection of loss of motivation and passion leaves me feeling empty. This is not a matter of individual will but a signal that energy has been completely depleted. The problem is that this state leads to a vicious cycle of self-destruction, relying on temporary pleasures like binge eating and drinking.
According to a report from Asan Medical Center, burnout occurs when there is a significant gap between the ideals an individual pursues and reality. Ultimately, the extreme fatigue we feel is a soul fatigue that cannot answer the question, ‘Why am I doing this?’
2. Alienation Created by the System: Why Have We Become Parts?
The loss of meaning for modern individuals is deeply rooted in the social system we belong to, not in individual weakness. Korea’s ’exam hell’ teaches only survival competition, eliminating opportunities for cooperation or self-discovery in the process.
Competition-centered education becomes the starting point of alienation.
Sociologist Erich Fromm pointed out that modern individuals have become ’errand boys’ rather than masters of the system. When asked, “Who are you?” we respond not from our inner selves but through social functions (“I am an office worker”). Identity is reduced to ’exchange value’ in the market, and humans become alienated.
Ultimately, the emptiness felt at the office desk is an inevitable result of a system that has removed intrinsic motivation from childhood and injected only external goals (college, employment, promotion).
People in Search of the Meaning of Life
There are those who have embarked on their own paths, seeking answers not provided by the system. Their stories show us new possibilities.
1. The Courage to Pause: Taking a Moment to Reflect
Park So-yeon wanted to escape her empty life. After a desperate question, “Will I just end up working like this?” she gifted herself a ‘sabbatical year’ and went to Bangkok.
What she gained there was not a new job but the ability to live leisurely and a perspective to see various ways of life in the world. Thus, taking a moment to pause and reset one’s path, like a ‘Gap Year’, allows one to discover the meaning of life in the process rather than the outcome.
Sometimes, pausing can be the fastest way.
2. A Second Life: Finding Meaning in Connection with Others
After their main careers end, some begin their true lives. Stories like that of Yang Byeong-taek, who taught computers in Sri Lanka after retirement, and 72-year-old Michelle, who volunteers for suicide prevention counseling, illustrate this.
What they have in common is that they shifted the focus of their lives from personal achievement to connection and service to others. The inner value gained through emotional stability and contribution, rather than titles and salaries, becomes a powerful antidote to feelings of alienation.
Helping others fills one’s life.
3. The Unknown Path: The Light and Shadow of an Autonomous Life
Leaving a stable job to pursue one’s own path is not always romantic. YouTuber Choi Ji-eun, who is in debt from farming, candidly expresses the hardships and loneliness of agricultural work.
Yet she shouts, “Farm, it’s so happy!” Why? Because even though that life is tough, it is a life that she has fully chosen and created herself. The transition from a passive employee to an active creator, or the recovery of autonomy, provides psychological rewards that cannot be exchanged for anything else.
When you become the master of your life, even hardships become part of the meaning.
Comparison: Three Paths to Meaning
| Path 1: Pause and Reflection | Path 2: Service and Connection | Path 3: Creation and Autonomy |
|---|
| Action | Intentionally stepping off the ‘race’ (Gap Year, sabbatical, travel) | Dedicating the ‘second act’ to helping others (volunteering, mentoring) | Creating something new from scratch (starting a business, farming, creative activities) | | Source of Meaning | Discovering inner values by escaping external pressures and focusing on the process | Transforming personal experiences into community assets and finding purpose through contribution | Exercising complete autonomy, taking responsibility for one’s life, and finding identity | | Representative Cases | Park So-yeon who went to Bangkok | Michelle who volunteers for crisis counseling | Choi Ji-eun, the ‘farming debtor’ |
A Philosophical Compass to Find Your Own Answers
1. “Existence Precedes Essence”: You Are Not a Tool
French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stated, “Existence precedes essence.” Tools are created after a purpose (essence) is determined, but humans are thrown into the world without a predetermined purpose (existence) and must create their own purpose (essence) through their actions.
Modern society forces individuals to adopt the essence of being ‘good students’ or ‘productive workers’, reversing this order. This is the root of alienation. The act of seeking the meaning of life is a struggle to restore the inherent formula of humanity that starts from our own existence and builds our own meaning.
Sartre viewed humans as beings who create themselves.
2. “Amor Fati”: How to Love Your Fate
The freedom to choose comes with complete responsibility, which can be daunting. Nietzsche found a philosophical answer to transform this weight into joy in ‘Amor Fati’, or ’love your fate’.
This is not passive resignation but an attitude of actively affirming one’s entire life, whether good or bad. The life of the ‘farming debtor’ is evidence of Amor Fati. She does not deny her hardships but positively affirms the reality born from her choices and finds happiness within it.
Meaning is not found in avoiding pain but in discovering the pain that is worth enduring.
Conclusion
The question, “What are we doing here?” is not a signal that we are wrong but rather evidence that we are alive and awake. Through this journey, we have confirmed several important facts.
- Key Point 1: Burnout and alienation are not just fatigue but a ‘crisis of meaning’ arising within modern social systems.
- Key Point 2: Meaning can be discovered through various paths such as pausing and reflecting, connecting with others, and autonomous creation.
- Key Point 3: The meaning of life is not given but is a ‘verb’ that we create through our own choices and actions, as in existential philosophy.
As I close this article, I suggest you view your life with curiosity rather than judgment. Today, how will you start your story? The answers to the grand question lie within the small, concrete responses we offer through our daily lives.
References
- [Confessions of an Advertiser] E-Bap Food Magazine
- [What is Burnout Syndrome?] Asan Medical Center
- [Self-Employment Survival Rate Report] NewsQuest
- [Gap Year for Young People] Dongbu Group Blog
- [New Life After Retirement] Korea Daily
- [High School Students’ Perception of School] KDI Economic Information Center
- [Impact of Excessive Educational Enthusiasm] Bank of Korea
- Lee Jeok’s Burnout Confession Link
- ‘Farming Debtor’ YouTube Channel Link
- Article on Employee Happiness Link
- Article on Furniture Workshop Entrepreneurs Link