modern nihilism: a video essay

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Their foundation eroded, but their formulas and insignas lingering. Values do not simply evaporate, but become malleable, funible, trivial, instrumentalizable, easily trafficked for purposes beyond themselves, and at the same time histrionic and hyperbolic.

[00:00:18]>> If you've heard of the term nihilism before, you know that nihilists will project the existence of meaning, morality, and truth among others. It is intrinsically linked to a lack of values. But according to 19th century philosopher Nisha, nihilism is not merely the absence of values but their gradual erosion and degradation. And what better example of this phenomenon than the modern world? Bound to hashtags, bumpro stickers, corporate slogans, and brand promos, values are hijacked, trivialized, drained of their substance, and therefore lose any capacity to shape society's moral order.

[00:00:52]Today we'll be studying two modern case studies in the context of nihilism with a particular emphasis on how the internet has shaped their development.

[00:01:01]Philosophy unfortunately often has a reputation for being too abstract. But I hope through this video I can illustrate how it can be a truly powerful tool for making sense of the world around us.

[00:01:11]Perhaps you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on modern culture or at least a very profound shower thought.

[00:01:17]Without further ado, let's examine our first case, Chinese historical nihilism.

[00:01:22]If nihilism is a negation of truth, then historical nihilism is a negation of historic facts. Loosely, it's a term used to describe the dissemination of history that contradicts the CCP's official interpretation. This idea was born out of a desire to understand the fall of the Soviet Union, how the most powerful communist state in history seemingly collapsed overnight. Chinese scholars settled on historical nihilism as a phrase to describe the effects of the massive campaign of dstalinization taken on by Soviet leaders. To give a little bit of context, after the death of Stalin in 1953, Nikita Krushchev took his place as secretary of the Communist Party. Behind closed doors, he delivered a speech on the personality cult and its consequences, criticizing Stalin's ironfisted rule. you see to what Stalin's mania for greatness led. He completely lost consciousness of reality. He demonstrated his suspicion and hottiness not only in relation to individuals in the USSR, but in relation to whole parties and nations. This marked a turning point in the nation's history. Joseph Stalin, the man who was once exalted as his people's savior, now had his statues and portraits burned and trampled in the street. It was this repudiation of its own history, the demonization of its former leaders that destroyed faith in communism. The influx of new views on history eroded the foundation of the Soviet people's value system, leading to spiritual emptiness and disillusionment with the communist system. But what does this have to do with the present? With the rise of the internet, scholar Hal Jang argues that historical nihilism has taken on a new form, soft historical nihilism. Rather than directly attacking established narratives, this variant interprets history through entertaining narratives using media and the internet to transform history into a consumable visual spectacle. Here, Zong is referencing the rise in popularity of history related internet media.

[00:03:21]Romanticized Netflix docky dramas, Tik Tok skits and cosplays, and endless selection of historical fanfiction online. Short form content selectively dramatizes the lives of historical figures, often with little context. And with the recent AI boom, these reimaginings of history are no longer confined to the film studio. With a prompt and a click of a button, your AI of choice can transform your favorite historical figure into a modern virtual idol. John criticizes these trends as contributing to the emotional dilution of history. We engage with this type of content primarily for emotional satisfaction. What's happening to historical media is very similar to the effect book talk had on the fantasy genre. For the uninitiated, book talk is a popular Tik Tok community focused on reviewing and recommending books to viewers. It spans all genres, but it's heavily driven by YA fiction, particularly fantasy and romance, or romantic if you will. If you're familiar with the subculture, you probably also know that book talk is infamous for accelerating the tropification of literature. In nearly every video I've come across, tropes are the primary mechanism by which books are identified and promoted. Tropes are a necessary component of any kind of storytelling.

[00:04:38]There are simply tools by which artists introduce the characters, develop the plot, and generally establish their story. But the problem arises when literature and media at large is reduced to only those tropes. The tropification and devaluation of literature mirrors Zang's theory of soft historical nihilism in the sense that historical media is also becoming a self-gratifying emotionally satisfying commodity to consume rather than analyze. Both cases are an example of what Max Weber called instrumental rationality, a process by which the means overtake the ends.

[00:05:14]Tropes were intended as a means to aid narrative development, but it has now overturned the very ends it was meant to serve. Books are written to fit popular tropes and not the other way around. The reason I find this idea of soft historical nihilism so fascinating is because nihilism is usually discussed in the context of personal despair, but it has just as much to do with our culture of consumerism and mass media.

[00:05:41]When we reduce literature and history to just another form of entertainment rather than a way of exploring our own humanity, we're contributing to a nihilistic culture that devalues art as a whole. Now that we've examined nihilism in our cultural media, let's take a look at our next case study, lying flat.

[00:06:06]Do you ever feel like life is just too hard? Everyone has expectations of you.

[00:06:12]Your precious days are spent toiling over homework or nodding off in sterile meeting rooms. When ceaseless pressure becomes the norm and motivation is but a distant memory, don't you want to just lie flat?

[00:06:26]Allow me to introduce you to Tangp, a Chinese internet trend featuring people lying flat by dropping out of the rat race for success and adopting a lowd desire lifestyle. Peaking in popularity during the height of COVID, Tongqing can be considered nihilistic in the sense that it negates widely accepted social values such as advancing your career or chasing economic prosperity with competition for limited opportunities growing ever fiercer. Lying flat has become a wholesale rejection of modernity's culture of overwork and productivism. Tangping originated from a 2021 post on the Chinese platform by Du by a user named the kind traveler. I despise life lived for the sake of steel and concrete and traditional family values. He writes people shouldn't be so tired. Lying flat is the only objective truth in the universe. Rest, sleep, or death. The moment when a life full of desire and excitement becomes still and disappears is the embodiment of true justice.

[00:07:31]Surviving by working odd jobs for a month or two at a time, the user described himself as sleeping in his own wooden barrel like the eccentric Dioynes, basking in his freedom from the pressures and judgment of society. His post quickly went viral on Chinese social media with many young people resonating with his exhaustion and frustration towards the trappings of modern life. Participants in the Tongping lifestyle view societal expectations, particularly around marriage, buying a house, and being economically successful, as increasingly unattainable and therefore meaningless.

[00:08:08]But for many young people, this trend is more than just giving up. In a 2022 CNBC interview, people who identified as lying flat reported that reduced professional commitments gave them much needed room to focus on themselves.

[00:08:22]"Even though it looks like I'm doing nothing for 6 months, I'm working hard on myself," says Crystal Guo, a master student in psychology. "Kungping gives me breathing space to reflect on my career and future. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing." To many young college graduates, lying flat is an active rejection of oppressive values and a decision to prioritize themselves over temporary workplace success. One can view it as what Nisha described as active nihilism in which individuals acknowledge the meaninglessness of societal values while striving to forge their own. It is not a criticism of work entirely, but refusal to ruin one's physical and psychological health for its sake. But at what point does Tangping go too far? At what point does it move past protesting toxic work culture into promoting permanent pacivity? Recently, a portion of the lying flat subculture has evolved into something far more extreme. The rat people. This viral trend features videos of people lying in bed from morning to midnight, venturing outside their blankets only to order food delivery or binge a TV show. It romanticizes an existence of ultimate uninterrupted comfort. No stressful social interactions, no pressure to work hard, no obligation to do anything at all.

[00:09:39]Hence the nickname rat people to describe this lifestyle. If I had to sum up their life philosophy in one phrase, it would be this. Comfort is the absence of struggle. To live as a rat person means eliminating the word striving from your vocabulary. There is only the fleeting pleasure of the present moment and the subsequent desire for more.

[00:09:59]Fittingly, their activities are oriented around consumption, watching television, shopping online, playing video games, nothing that could possibly be strenuous to the mind or body. Whereas its predecessor, lying flat, encouraged participants to pursue their own values instead of those imposed by tradition, a form of active nihilism, the rat people embody a kind of hedonistic nihilism.

[00:10:22]Hedenism values the pursuit of pleasure above all else. And if pleasure is simply a lack of hardship, then why not lie in bed all day? If all values are null and void, shouldn't we just maximize our own comfort? The trend of rap people mirror a similar nihilistic cultural phenomena across other countries. Take for example the bedrotting Tik Tok community. A group of mostly American Jenzers who romanticize staying in bed for extended periods of time, often while scrolling or streaming. It's not unhealthy, they say.

[00:10:55]It's just soft living. Similarly, Japan has been facing a crisis of shutins or hikamoris, young adults who confine themselves indoors and willingly live a life of extreme isolation. or Korea so generation a growing community of young people in their 20s and 30s giving up three major milestones in life dating marriage and having children over the last decade it's expanded to oppo which additionally forcewear's home ownership and personal relationships and ultimately culminated in cippo people who declare themselves as having completely given up on life facing an increasingly cutthroat competitive and economically stratified world a growing number of young people are embracing these lowd desire lifestyles as a respit from society's ceaseless demands for achievement. Giving up can feel like relief from the shame that comes with failing to meet these standards. The values imposed on them, such as getting into a prestigious college, landing a high-paying job, raising a happy family while juggling a career, are being devalued by the fact that they're seen as increasingly out of reach. In response to the overwhelming pressure to pursue increasingly unattainable goals, many are embracing the opposite extreme, rejecting values and meaning altogether.

[00:12:16]If you value nothing, the thought goes, then you can be satisfied with anything.

[00:12:21]Adopting a nihilistic lifestyle through these trends is truly a lastditch effort to manufacture a sense of fulfillment.

[00:12:30]After all, how can I be unsatisfied with a lack of connection or money if I never valued those things in the first place?

[00:12:38]This phenomenon parallels Nisha's argument that nihilism arises from suppressed desires, an idea he used to criticize institutions that upheld rigid social and moral codes such as the church. Yet, we can observe a similar pattern occurring with the rat people, sampo generation, and the hikumori.

[00:12:57]This belief that any desire more ambitious than getting out of bed or opening Netflix is simply too much to bear and must be repressed. The inevitable result of denying yourself the luxury of wanting something, of hoping for better, is that life begins to feel flat, dull, and inconsequential.

[00:13:17]At this point, if you're still awake, you're probably wondering what's to be done with all this information. And while I obviously won't have all the answers, I'll give you my two cents from our case studies. Nihilism as a cultural phenomenon is often induced by external factors from economic conditions to social pressures and amplified via social media. I truly believe that we should change the way we think about nihilism, not just as a superficial individual issue, but a global problem that's driving entire subcultures built around isolation, commodification, and emotional burnout.

[00:13:57]In a world that romanticizes indifference and reclusion, perhaps the most powerful thing we can do is simply caring about something. There's a weird upside to the normalization of mindless consumption, and that is that every act of creation becomes infinitely more valuable. In these nihilistic times, the systems around us profit off our apathy, our cynicism, and our reluctance to engage. So, we must collectively do the opposite. So, if you only remember one thing from this video, let it be this.

[00:14:30]Meaning isn't something to be found, but something we build through the things we care about.