For Your Consideration

June 13, 2025

I have felt the tide turning. The prevailing secular philosophy says that life is meaningless, chaos is the only constant, and one can only rely on one’s self. But this philosophy is losing ground. Those who are still firmly entrenched may disagree, but I wonder if they haven’t looked at their surroundings recently. Millennial Grey is out, Gen Z Green is in. 

This essay may be too abstract for the tastes of many, and requires too much background to do justice to the topic here. However, I believe there is value in making you aware of a tangible shift in the philosophy and attitude towards living of the generation that is coming up in the world. 

Some of you may be wondering what the term metamodernism even means, where it has come from, and why anyone would think it’s important for you to know about. I will try to briefly address those points. 

First, what is metamodernism? If you were to Google the term as I have done, this is what may appear. “Metamodernism is a cultural sensibility that emerges after postmodernism, seeking to move beyond the limitations of both modernism and postmodernism. It involves oscillating between the seemingly opposing values of both modernism (optimism, certainty, hope) and postmodernism (irony, deconstruction, nihilism). Instead of choosing between them, metamodernism embraces both, recognizing their value and the potential for a synthesis, even if it’s ultimately contradictory.”

In my own words, metamodernism is the attempt to “make realism great again”. People are not naive; we know the world is full of suffering. We don’t appreciate false optimism and insincerity. But on the other hand, we also have come to despise the fear mongering and self-consuming gluttony of pessimism and isolation. I see the shift towards metamodernism happening most clearly among people my age. 

As an aesthetic representation of the crisis that metamodernism attempts to resolve, I recommend listening to the recently released “Truth” by Mumford & Sons. If you aren’t inclined to listen to their music, I have included what I believe to be the central lyrics below.

[Verse 3]

You cannot complain if you don’t throw a dice yourself

Sit outside the lines, blame everybody else

I refuse to offer myself up to men who lie

Spit and sell and smirk, out the corner of their eye

Here I see an expression of disgust with those who claim to be exempt: exempt from blame for the ills of society, and more importantly, exempt from making a choice about what they believe the truth is. It is a reaction against those who look down upon people who are searching for meaning. The chorus of the song is clearer about this point.

[Chorus]

If there’s a fire in the almost places

Leaves us nowhere else to go

If there’s a fire in the almost places

Leaves us nowhere else to go

Don’t leave the liars in the honest places

In the chorus, the lyrics express anger at the insincerity of those who claim to have knowledge about truth, but who lie about how certain they are, or who are so pridefully certain that they exclude those with questions or those without the same level of certainty. The inevitable outcome of this “fire” is that those who are uncertain feel hopeless and lost as they search for truth. There is no “bottom” to their beliefs that they can work up from. This is all because they do not trust that the proponents of the foundations that have been presented to them are being honest.

In summation, metamodernism is the identification of the need for the toleration of uncertainty, but not to the exclusion of truth. It is the practice of tolerating uncertainty while asserting that the truth does exist and we can know things about it.

The sad reality is that many people have not experienced this balance. They have been hammered alternately by the insincere optimism of modernism and the chaotic nihilism of postmodernism. All of this, back and forth between Apollonian and Dionysian forces, until consciously or unconsciously, they choose to live by one half of the truth or the other, rather than live by the truth itself. Many feel completely overwhelmed by the weight of this conflict, and inadequate in the face of others’ certainty about the side they chose in said conflict. 

So then, why is understanding metamodernism important? Because it can change the way you live. I want to emphasize that metamodernism is not another wave of permissive moral relativism, as seen in the twentieth century. Metamodernism does not say “the only truth is your truth” (thus you may live your life as you please); it says, “whether any one person is capable of fully comprehending it is uncertain, but truth still exists.” Therefore, living well must have a foundation in something, which requires us to think about what that foundation is and where it can be found. Acknowledging that this is a quest, not necessarily something we can perfectly arrive at, instills humility and promotes nuance in thought and action.

This humility is the core of metamodernism. It allows people to hold their beliefs and opinions based on reason, evidence, and even instinct, without completely alienating those who disagree with their conclusions. It allows for conversation about evidence and opinion, rather than stifling dialogue, which is the food that feeds the relational bonds necessary for human flourishing. It allows the search for truth to continue. It allows people to grow.

I have experienced these effects of metamodernism. Looking back, I started on the road of metamodernism in high school – I was prepared by excellent teachers and loving parents, who desired to engage me in conversations about the truth, taking me seriously and leaving space for my questions. The quest for truth has led me to places I did not expect, and it has changed me for the better. 

My hope is that this short explanation of metamodernism and its predecessors convinces you too, first to dialogue with those in your community, and second to approach them with humility: questions first, rather than answers. Dare to dialogue honestly and earnestly about what you believe to be true. It is better than the alternatives.

For Your Consideration,

Faith Elert

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For more in-depth discussion of this topic, I recommend to you the podcast Deep Talks: Exploring Theology and Meaning-Making, created by a former teacher of mine, Paul Anleitner (previously known to me as “Mr. A”). I am grateful to have been his student.