Why the Meaning Layer Is the Most Missing Dimension of Modernity

BY NICOLE LAU

Modernity gave us everything:

Technology, abundance, freedom, knowledge, power.

But it took away one thing:

Meaning.

We have more information than ever—but less significance.

More capability—but less purpose.

More options—but less direction.

More power—but less wisdom.

The meaning layer is not just missing—it's the most missing dimension.

And its absence explains almost everything wrong with modern life.

This is the story of the void at the heart of modernity.

What Modernity Has: The Three Developed Dimensions

What We Achieved:

1. Material Dimension

What it is: Physical abundance and comfort

What we have:

• Unprecedented wealth
• Material abundance
• Physical comfort
• Technological power

Achievement: Highest standard of living in human history

2. Information Dimension

What it is: Access to knowledge and data

What we have:

• Unlimited information
• Global connectivity
• Instant access
• Vast knowledge

Achievement: More information available than all previous generations combined

3. Freedom Dimension

What it is: Individual liberty and choice

What we have:

• Personal freedom
• Individual rights
• Unlimited options
• Self-determination

Achievement: Greatest individual freedom in history

The Success:

Modernity delivered on these dimensions—spectacularly.

What Modernity Lost: The Meaning Dimension

The Missing Layer:

1. Significance

What it is: What matters and why

What we lost:

• Shared sense of importance
• Understanding of significance
• Knowledge of what matters
• Criteria for relevance

Result: Everything feels equally important (or unimportant)

2. Purpose

What it is: What life is for

What we lost:

• Shared telos (end goal)
• Understanding of purpose
• Direction and orientation
• Sense of calling

Result: Life has no inherent purpose

3. Value

What it is: What is good and worth pursuing

What we lost:

• Shared values
• Understanding of good
• Moral framework
• Ethical grounding

Result: All values are relative, nothing is objectively good

4. Context

What it is: How things relate to larger whole

What we lost:

• Sense of belonging
• Connection to cosmos
• Understanding of place
• Contextual meaning

Result: Isolated individuals in meaningless universe

5. Wisdom

What it is: How to live well

What we lost:

• Accumulated wisdom
• Understanding of flourishing
• Knowledge of good life
• Practical guidance

Result: Information without wisdom, knowledge without understanding

How the Loss Happened: The Systematic Removal

The Process:

Each knowledge down-shift removed one aspect of meaning:

1. Scientific Revolution

Removed: Purpose and value from nature

How:

• Nature has no telos
• No inherent purpose
• No intrinsic value
• Just mechanism

Impact: Universe became meaningless mechanism

2. Enlightenment

Removed: Transcendent meaning

How:

• Rejected divine purpose
• Dismissed sacred
• Secularized everything
• Reason only

Impact: No transcendent source of meaning

3. Darwinism

Removed: Human special purpose

How:

• Humans are accidents
• No special purpose
• Just survival machines
• No telos

Impact: Human life has no inherent meaning

4. Nietzsche

Removed: Objective values

How:

• "God is dead"
• No objective values
• All values created
• Nothing inherently good

Impact: Value nihilism

5. Postmodernism

Removed: Shared narratives

How:

• Rejected grand narratives
• No shared meaning
• Everything relative
• No truth

Impact: Fragmentation of meaning

The Cumulative Effect:

Each step removed another layer of meaning—until nothing remained.

The Symptoms: How Missing Meaning Manifests

What It Looks Like:

1. The Meaning Crisis

Symptoms:

• Widespread depression
• Anxiety epidemic
• Suicide rates rising
• Addiction crisis
• Existential despair

Why: Life feels meaningless despite material abundance

2. The Attention Crisis

Symptoms:

• Can't focus
• Constant distraction
• Information overload
• No filter

Why: Without meaning, can't distinguish important from trivial

3. The Decision Crisis

Symptoms:

• Paralysis by choice
• Can't commit
• Constant second-guessing
• FOMO

Why: Without values, can't prioritize or choose

4. The Connection Crisis

Symptoms:

• Loneliness epidemic
• Social isolation
• Lack of belonging
• Disconnection

Why: Without shared meaning, can't truly connect

5. The Purpose Crisis

Symptoms:

• Don't know why to do anything
• No sense of calling
• Work feels meaningless
• Life feels pointless

Why: Without purpose, everything feels arbitrary

6. The Wisdom Crisis

Symptoms:

• Information without understanding
• Knowledge without wisdom
• Capability without judgment
• Power without direction

Why: Without wisdom tradition, can't navigate life

The Paradox: Abundance and Emptiness

The Modern Condition:

We Have:

• More wealth than ever
• More freedom than ever
• More information than ever
• More options than ever
• More power than ever

But Feel:

• More empty than ever
• More lost than ever
• More anxious than ever
• More disconnected than ever
• More meaningless than ever

Why:

Because we have everything except the one thing that makes everything else meaningful.

The Analogy:

Like having a mansion with no foundation.

Or a feast with no appetite.

Or a map with no destination.

The material is there—but the meaning that would make it matter is absent.

Why Meaning Is THE Most Missing Dimension

Not Just Missing—MOST Missing:

1. It's Foundational

Meaning is not one dimension among many—it's the foundation for all others:

• Material abundance means nothing without meaning
• Information is noise without significance
• Freedom is paralysis without purpose
• Power is dangerous without wisdom

Without meaning, everything else loses value.

2. It's Universal

Every human needs meaning:

• Not optional
• Not luxury
• Not preference
• Fundamental human need

You can't opt out of needing meaning.

3. It's Irreplaceable

Nothing else can substitute for meaning:

• Not pleasure
• Not success
• Not wealth
• Not status

Only meaning satisfies the need for meaning.

4. Its Absence Is Catastrophic

Lack of meaning causes collapse:

• Individual: Depression, despair, suicide
• Social: Fragmentation, polarization, conflict
• Civilizational: Nihilism, decadence, decline

Meaning crisis is existential crisis.

5. It's Hardest to Restore

Easier to build:

• Material infrastructure
• Information systems
• Political freedom

Harder to build:

• Meaning frameworks
• Shared purpose
• Wisdom traditions

Meaning takes generations to build, moments to destroy.

The Failed Substitutes: What Doesn't Work

What Modernity Tried:

1. Materialism

The attempt: Find meaning in stuff

Why it fails: Hedonic treadmill, never enough, empty

2. Careerism

The attempt: Find meaning in work

Why it fails: Burnout, retirement crisis, "is this all there is?"

3. Hedonism

The attempt: Find meaning in pleasure

Why it fails: Addiction, diminishing returns, emptiness

4. Activism

The attempt: Find meaning in cause

Why it fails: Burnout, disillusionment, tribalism

5. Self-Optimization

The attempt: Find meaning in improvement

Why it fails: Never good enough, narcissism, emptiness

6. Relationships

The attempt: Find meaning in others

Why it fails: Codependency, disappointment, still need own meaning

Why They All Fail:

They're proxies for meaning—not meaning itself.

They can contribute to meaningful life—but can't provide meaning.

What Would Restore the Meaning Layer

The Requirements:

1. Reconnect to Wisdom Traditions

• Access accumulated wisdom
• Learn from traditions
• Understand what matters
• Recover meaning frameworks

2. Rebuild Shared Frameworks

• Create common understanding
• Develop shared values
• Build collective meaning
• Enable connection

3. Integrate Mechanism and Meaning

• Don't reject science
• But add meaning layer
• Combine how and why
• Build complete understanding

4. Develop Meaning-Making Capacity

• Learn to discern significance
• Develop judgment
• Cultivate wisdom
• Practice meaning-making

5. Create New Synthesis

• Not return to old meaning
• But create new
• Informed by tradition
• Adapted to modernity

The Operational Truth

Here's why meaning is the most missing dimension:

• Modernity has: Material abundance, Information access, Individual freedom
• Modernity lost: Significance, Purpose, Value, Context, Wisdom
• How it happened: Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, Darwinism, Nietzsche, Postmodernism—each removed one layer
• Symptoms: Meaning crisis, Attention crisis, Decision crisis, Connection crisis, Purpose crisis, Wisdom crisis
• Paradox: Abundance and emptiness—have everything except what makes it matter
• Why MOST missing: Foundational, Universal, Irreplaceable, Catastrophic absence, Hardest to restore
• Failed substitutes: Materialism, Careerism, Hedonism, Activism, Self-optimization, Relationships—all proxies, not meaning itself
• What would restore: Reconnect to wisdom, Rebuild frameworks, Integrate mechanism and meaning, Develop capacity, Create synthesis

This is not nostalgia. This is diagnosis.

Practice: Restore Your Meaning Layer

Experiment: Build Personal Meaning Framework

Step 1: Recognize the Void

Acknowledge what's missing:

• Do you feel the emptiness?
• Despite having everything?
• Is something missing?
• That's the meaning layer

Step 2: Ask Meaning Questions

Not just "how" but "why":

• What matters to me?
• What is my purpose?
• What do I value?
• What is significant?

Step 3: Study Wisdom Traditions

Learn from those who understood meaning:

• What did they say matters?
• What did they say is purpose?
• What frameworks did they provide?
• What can you learn?

Step 4: Build Your Framework

Create coherent meaning structure:

• What are your values?
• What is your purpose?
• What matters most?
• How do you prioritize?

Step 5: Live From Meaning

Let meaning guide decisions:

• Choose based on values
• Act from purpose
• Prioritize what matters
• Live meaningfully

Step 6: Share Meaning

Help others find meaning:

• Share your framework
• Help others discern
• Build shared meaning
• Restore the layer

Modernity gave us everything.

Except meaning.

And without meaning, everything else is empty.

The meaning layer is not just missing.

It's the most missing dimension.

The void at the heart of modernity.

But it can be restored.

One person at a time.

One framework at a time.

One meaningful life at a time.

Start with yours.

Next in series: Why the 21st Century Is the Era of "Structural Mysticism Revival"