Carl Jung and the Age of Hero
“Here we have our present age … bent on the extermination of myth. Man today, stripped of myth, stands famished among all his pasts and must dig frantically for roots…”
— Nietzsche
We live at a time when science and technology have dramatically reduced our physical pain, yet our psychological suffering remains. Even though life expectancy has increased for much of the modern world and numerous diseases have been eliminated, our existential conflicts remain unchanged.
Everyone is born and everyone dies, everything living we know will return to dust. Our legacy will live on for a generation, maybe two if we are exceptional. These truths seldom bring joy, yet they occupy our thoughts. At the same time, we feel that our life lacks meaning, we descend into avoidable suffering.
Despite the promises of science and technology, no app, device, algorithm, or drug can give our life meaning. Historically, this role was occupied by myth. Now, the West finds itself in a void.
Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Jung contended that the decline of Christianity left the West devoid of myth. This lack, irrespective of all the advances in science and technology, intensifies our existential struggles and psychological pain.
