Why life feels empty: Vervaeke, Kelly, Symes and Brooks on the meaning crisis
October 21, 2026 · 35 min read
John Vervaeke explains why so many people feel depressed, lonely and cynical and proposes religion without theism, Sean Kelly searches for meaning without a fixed ground after Nietzsche's diagnosis of nihilism, Jack Symes defends meaning without ultimate meaning, and Arthur Brooks asks why so many young people say their lives feel empty. Their answers run from rebuilding religious practice without God to accepting meaning without a final purpose, which shows readers who have lost or never had a traditional faith the options in front of them.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Vervaeke: meaning in life is connectedness to yourself, others and the world, especially to things whose value doesn't depend on your preferences.
- Vervaeke's test: what would you want to keep existing if you were gone, and how do you matter to it?
- Vervaeke's practice mix: meditative (Vipassana), contemplative (metta or the Stoic view from above) and moving, flow-inducing (Tai Chi).
- Flow (Vervaeke): demands slightly exceed skills, with clear information, tight feedback and errors that matter.
- Dialogue: about 10% of individuals solve the Wason selection task, about 80% of groups of four (Vervaeke).
- Vet communities of practice so they don't become cults (Vervaeke).
- Kelly: respond to your situation as Miles Davis made Herbie Hancock's wrong chord right.
- Borgmann's test, via Kelly: seek moments with no place you'd rather be, nothing you'd rather be doing, no one you'd rather be with.
- Symes: rank meanings by how they bear on happiness and suffering.
- Brooks: feeling life is meaningless is the best predictor of depression and anxiety under 35.
- Brooks's device rules: no phone the first hour of the morning, at meals or the last hour at night; none in the bedroom; periodic tech fasts.
- Brooks's idols: money, power, pleasure, honor. Cross off those you care about least to find yours.
- Lasting depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts: talk to a doctor or mental health professional.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.