What You're Feeling Is Weltschmerz

Have you felt it recently? That sensation of despair mixed with cynicism and powerlessness coursing through you?

That’s Weltschmerz

For now, I’m going to remind myself that millions of small mercies are also happening in the world, often unreported. Then I’m going to go lie down.

What has evolved since then is not just the obfuscation of reality but its utter fragmentation. At no other time have so many narratives worked to erode our idealism. The advent of social media and mobile phones has amplified our inclination to feel problems rather than think about them. Weltschmerz is the natural psychological response to holding