To get through tough times, a since-edited wikiHow article recommends to “Gaslight Yourself.” Or, “tell yourself it’s making you stronger and the universe is just testing you.”  

Though this article has mostly made rounds as a joke, it does point to an irony of modern thought.  

We are in a culture-wide crisis of meaning. More than 1 in 3 American teenagers, for example, say they feel “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” an increase of 40% since just 2009. Our dominant philosophies tell us that each person is responsible for creating his or her own meaning out of an otherwise meaningless life.  

In essence, philosophy classes around the world are taking a page out of wikiHow’s playbook… and it’s not working. Because we are more than a series of self-edits. As the intentional handiwork of a Creator, we have a foundation to discover the meaning our culture has lost.