Not Material, But Metaphysical: Exploring Why Young People Are Feeling Lost

April 22, 2026

In 2026, I am thinking, writing, crafting, and consulting with a purpose in mind: that of the educator. To me, the educator spans the wide range of work that I do, both formally and informally, in and outside of postsecondary institutions, workplaces, conferences, professional development sessions, and on/through social media.

I finally found some time this morning to watch a BBC interview between journalist Katty Kay and author and Harvard professor Arthur Brooks about his book, The Meaning of Your Life that was originally produced in later March.

As one semester of higher education teaching ends, and another begins, and in the plethora of reports about youth unemployment and a tough summer job market, as well as the larger dilemmas of higher education in the unfolding era of AI, I thought it was useful to continue my reflections on the purpose of higher education beyond the continual chase of credentials and matching the whims of labour market outcomes.

In the interview, Brooks suggests that young people are no longer asking themselves larger, metaphysical questions pertaining to the meaning of their lives. Brooks suggests that, despite their educations and their jobs, people in their twenties are living simulated lives, interacting with people virtually through their devices and feeling that there life has no purpose or meaning.

Brooks doesn’t disagree with Kay’s points about increasing costs of living and the challenges of the job market for young people in particular. For Brooks, this dissatisfaction, however, is not material but metaphysical.

This sense of unfulfillment, Brooks argues, is because our brain knows that these virtual experiences are simulations, and not real. Brooks suggests that young people are less likely to have key twentysomething experiences, such as falling in love and having their heart broken, which can trigger questions about meaning and purpose.

In the classroom, Brooks describes how he asks his students to pose larger, transcendental questions to themselves, such as “Why are you here” and “What would you die for?”

Brooks touches on various spiritual, religious and philosophical traditions to provoke these larger questions, from Buddhism to the Greek philosophical tradition of aporia.

The takeaway for me, is not the tradition that matters, but creating the space and time and habit to ask oneself these questions. In then makes me reflect on the purpose of higher education being squeezed it seems with the continual pressures of credentialism, relevancy and trying to adapt to a capricious labour market.

Young people are caught up in this dance, but then, so too are educators.  Moreover, we see the erosion in enrolments and programs of humanities programs that might make space for the questions that Brooks describes. In addition, I would also suggest from experience that such metaphysical inquiry has to be cultivated and practised over time; we have to develop the ability to do this and see such self-inquiry as valid and valuable.

Perhaps that is something we can all do ourselves and encourage in young people, as adults, educators, leaders, and just people currently living on Earth.

What do you think?

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Image by Belinda Fawnings from Unsplash