The Existential Vacuum Part I: Is Something Missing?

by John R. SedivycloseAuthor: John R. Sedivy Name: John R. Sedivy
Email: john@capecodbranding.com
Site: http://www.capecodbranding.com
About: See Authors Posts (213)

This article begins a three part series based upon the concept of the “existential vacuum” as defined in Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search For Meaning”. The existential vacuum appears to be a condition where a person feels that meaning is missing from their existence. Consider the following concerning the existential vacuum as stated by Viktor Frankl:

“The existential vacuum is a widespread phenomenon of the twentieth century. This is understandable; it may be due to a twofold loss which man has had to undergo since he became a truly human being. At the beginning of human history, man lost some of the basic animal instincts in which an animal’s behavior is imbedded and by which it is secured. Such security, like Paradise, is closed to man forever; man has to make choices. In addition to this, however, man has suffered another loss in his more recent development inasmuch as the traditions which buttressed his behavior are now rapidly diminishing. No instinct tells him what he has to do, and no tradition tells him what he ought to do; sometimes he does not even know what he wishes to do. Instead, he either wishes to do what other people do (conformism) or he does what other people wish him to do (totalitarianism).”

When trapped between the choices of “conformism” and “totalitarianism” I can understand a person’s despair! Neither appears to be a great option – my thought is that when confronted with an existential vacuum, a person should strive towards greater individualism and find their own purpose. Refer to my article “How To Find Your True Purpose” for more on individuality and finding your life’s purpose.

What I found most interesting is where the existential vacuum occurs. One might think that this phenomenon occurs equally among humans across the world – but this is not the case. Consider the following from Viktor Frankl’s experience:

“A statistical survey recently revealed that among my European students, 25 percent showed a more-or-less marked degree of existential vacuum. Among my American students it was not 25 but 60 percent.”

Keep in mind that recently is relative as the author originally wrote this back in 1959. Furthermore, the author was European, so there could be a bias here, however I would guess not. It is definitely fascinating that the author found an increase of over double the amount for existential vacuum in American versus European students. This means that more Americans than Europeans feel that something is missing from their lives. Why is this?

To Be Continued…
Tomorrow I will discuss one possible reason for the differences in individual meaning by location.

The existential vacuum does not occur equally across individuals – location is a factor!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding

Filed under Books, John's Articles, Personal Developement, Psychology | Comments (2)