Existentialism & The Internet - Why We’re Getting More Anxious

For Sartre, there are endless ways to live and all are equally absurd, all equally meaningless, and all equally worthy. We have freedom to mold life any way we wish, coupled with a deep desire for wanting to mold it as best we possibly can. But we lack any ability to know if our choices are good or bad or right or wrong. And hence, we can never know if what we choose is what's best for us. 

This access to endless information and potential solutions to dealing with life has given rise to increasing anxieties, depressions and confusions.

We can't make any choice knowing if it will or won't be what's best for us, and so we should not look for or expect any ultimate answers that will.

This doesn't mean that we should not engage in, consume, consider, or share ideas, research, and philosophies about life, but we should be skeptical in our considerations, and mitigate our expectations accordingly. In many ways, ideas for how to live are just as much art and entertainment. No matter how wise a piece of advice may seem, there is nothing to suggest that anyone else can form a better idea for how to live than one's own self.

When one realizes and accepts that there are no fundamental rules or truths in the world of human existence, the individual becomes self-aware of their freedom and realizes that they don't have to do anything specific in life. The pressure and anxiousness of constantly searching for the right way to live can be alleviated, and instead, we can look inwards, consider how we wish to experience life, and work to mould ourselves and choices accordingly. 

We can use our uniquely assembled self to fulfill a uniquely assembled life, realizing our full potential, accepting the uncertainties, and making the endurance of existence personally worth it.