A Common Form of Feeling Lost in College: An Existential Crisis

A Common Form of Confusion Among University Students: Existential Crisis
There are tens of millions of university students each year. This article addresses just one type of situation among them.

I. One Basic Human Orientation Is: Who Can See, Explain, Ease, and Resolve My Suffering?

In terms of thinking, this means exploring, reading books, and scrolling through apps. Psychologically, it means various (pathological) relationship patterns and psychological patterns. (Previous article: “Everyone Suffers: On ‘Deep Breakdown and Deep Suffering,’ Answering a Reader’s Question, ‘Why Has Fate Been So Unfair to Me?’”)

In the language of self psychology, these are the three major functions of selfobjects: (a. mirroring—being seen and recognized; b. idealization—connection with a calm, powerful, perfect source of strength; c. twinship/alter ego—a basic similarity to others, a sense of being alike, and a sense of connection. Previous article: “Psychological Growth in East Asia: Psychological Boundaries, Selfobject Relations Theory, and Object Relations Theory.”)

Marx + Zhuangzi + psychology are sufficient to explain human suffering clearly. But many university students have a fatal karmic obstruction: petty-bourgeois elitism. Deep down, they do not consider themselves “ordinary people.” (Their thinking goes: I’m no ordinary person, and I won’t be an ordinary worker in the future either. I transcend class. I don’t have an inferiority complex—I’m conceited, if anything.) And because their inner core is fragile and their sense of existence is in crisis, they have an even greater need for uniqueness and superiority as defense mechanisms to sustain their sense of existence.

Marx, Zhuangzi, and psychology all begin from the premise that human beings are limited, ordinary people. So generally, after turning 30, once people have been battered by society, recognize that they are ordinary, and have developed a somewhat more mature and resilient inner core, they find it easier to study Zhuangzi and psychology.

II. Common Issues University Students Face Include:

1. Insecurity: finances, family of origin, social belonging, spiritual belonging, and so on;

1. Existential crisis (I recommend Irvin Yalom), identity, confusion, loneliness, meaninglessness, freedom and responsibility, death; empty-heart syndrome;

1. A fragile self, a lack of agency, and a lack of deep relationships, practical engagement, and connection with truth, goodness, beauty, and unpretentious proletarians;

1. Psychological trauma and problems in emotional relationships; the fundamental psychoanalytic issues of inferiority–conceit–narcissism–self-hatred (Horney).

The solution offered by Marx, Zhuangzi, and psychology (previous article: “Marx and Zhuangzi: A Philosophy for Ordinary People and People Who Lie Flat”) is to heal psychologically, treat petty-bourgeois malaise (social Darwinism, elitism, consumerism, alienation, opportunism, and so on), explore the five elements of understanding oneself (studies, career, social life, body, and mind), develop deep relationships (I recommend Wu Zhihong’s *Deep Relationships*), develop agency, explore new experiences of object relations (Winnicott, Zeng Qifeng) and selfobject relations (Kohut), and connect with the world’s unpretentious truth, goodness, beauty, and underlying patterns: working people, nature, and historical materialism. Experience the harmonious coexistence of the self, others, and the world; experience the tranquility of one’s original self and the unity of humanity and nature; rediscover innate wholeness and stop seeking outside oneself.

(Previous articles: “Psychological Growth in East Asia: Psychological Boundaries, Selfobject Relations Theory, and Object Relations Theory” and “Literature in Pinduoduo’s Comment Sections and Healing at the Produce Market.”)

Some students whose confusion is less severe have a concrete foothold and can cross the river by feeling for the stones: 1. Children from everyday working communities and small-business families identify with workers and small-business owners, spend their university years working and earning money, and move smoothly into an occupation and life in society after graduation. 2. Children whose families of origin are in crisis take this as an opportunity to study psychology and examine the world and their lives. 3. Those whose families of origin provide love, resources, and support, and who have developed relatively good habits, foundations, and understanding from childhood. 4. Those in fields such as computer science, where career prospects and learning paths are relatively promising and clear, the subject is relatively engaging, and a sense of identity is easier to develop. 5. The route of superiority: students who compete in mathematics and physics in science and engineering, prestigious universities in the humanities, prestigious universities and schools in business, and so on—though this also brings associated problems and problems later on.

Additional note: For high school and university students, a system of thought does not come from studying pure philosophy or theory. It is grounded in practical realities: one’s class, circumstances, psychological issues, field of study, career direction, and so on. These are the true roots of a system of thought. During university, the foundation should still be general education and education for one’s field and profession. Previous article: “A General Education Reading List for Workers.”

III. Alienation in the External Environment

Alienation in education, schools, and society; alienation in work and internships; alienation in relationships between people; and ideological confusion are also reasons university students struggle to receive profound, authentic responses reflecting truth, goodness, and beauty. (Marx: *Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844*)

Humanism begins with each person’s innate wholeness. Why, then, have people not developed fully? Because the external environment—the environments from which they come: their family of origin, formative education, and initial occupation and industry—has not provided enough nourishment. (What Rogers calls a helping relationship; what Winnicott, in object relations theory, calls a holding environment; the selfobject experiences of selfobject theory; what humanistic management calls management that cares for the heart; and what the Marxist psychologist Fromm discusses in *The Sane Society* and *The Art of Loving*.)

People therefore have two broad directions of development. The left-wing direction draws on Marxism and Zhuangzi’s philosophy to select, absorb, and connect with unpretentious truth, goodness, and beauty within an alienated, impoverished external environment, nourishing the mind and allowing its innate wholeness to develop fully. The right-wing direction is the opposite: becoming contaminated by toxic energy.

IV. This Is Also Why Existentialism Must Be Combined with Marxism

Existentialist writings to date are rooted in petty-bourgeois experiences of life in an alienated society, exemplified by Kafka’s *The Metamorphosis* (individual alienation and alienation in relationships between people). They excel at describing suffering and eliciting identification—as seen in the popularity of Kafka, Camus, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, and others—but are less adept at explaining it and offering directions toward a solution. Consequently, the worldviews, outlooks on life, and values associated with them are often despondent, regard human nature as hopeless, and hold that “hell is other people.” Their rejection and fear of proletarians intensify their rejection of society, making nihilism an easy outcome.

This is also what makes Irvin Yalom valuable; it is also why Nietzsche’s thought could be exploited by the far-right Nazis. To this day, Nietzsche’s “overman” is still understood as an “elite,” rather than Marx’s “fully developed human being,” while the mediocre herd Nietzsche criticized is understood as “the masses, workers and peasants, the rabble,” rather than the more deeply alienated petty and small bourgeoisie and upper classes. It could be said that Lu Xun, who stood with workers and the left, provides a model for understanding Nietzsche.

The collective struggle for survival and existential crisis of Germany’s petty and small bourgeoisie in the 1930s lay at the root of the Nazi far right. See Fromm’s *Escape from Freedom*.

Marxism, meanwhile, helps people recognize history’s spiral progress and the unpretentious truth, goodness, and beauty of proletarians and working people, who make up the overwhelming majority of the population. It enables people to connect with the vast majority of unpretentious people and with the course of history. Likewise, Zhuangzi contains much profound social criticism, along with “positive” existential experiences of connection with people, nature, and the “Dao.”

V. Subsequent Developments of Existential Crisis Combined with a Fragile Self

Often, this involves seeking outside oneself in the wrong direction. Common situations can be explained more clearly through “failure in selfobject development” in selfobject relations: when the three major functions fail to develop, people seek pathological selfobject functions:

1. Pathological mirroring: craving external recognition. Seeking cheap, pathological approval and praise. In extreme cases, becoming a compulsive contrarian or seeking attention.

1. Pathological idealization: idealizing others (dream men or dream women), then easily becoming disillusioned. Worshipping idols and grand narratives, seeking a sense of power and belonging in them.

In extreme cases, right-wing politics, populism, and Nazism. I recommend reading Fromm’s *Escape from Freedom*. This problem is also very serious in circles of Marxism enthusiasts. Previous article: “Two Attitudes Toward Studying Marxism: Julien’s and Napoleon’s Dreams of Heroism vs. the Awakened Ordinary Person.”

1. Pathological twinship/alter ego: seeking a bond like that of twin infants, unlimited indulgence, and a lack of respect for others’ boundaries. In extreme cases, siding with one’s own faction and attacking those who differ.

One common situation is that, on the one hand, people think no one can explain their suffering (inside: Please, someone, explain my suffering), while on the other hand, they find a few lines in obscure philosophies to maintain their sense of superiority: Look, only these people can even begin to explain it. Ordinary people simply cannot understand.

VI. After Entering Society, People Continue to Diverge Toward the Left and Right

Generally, after entering society, people discover conflicts between their system of understanding and reality. They encounter these clashes in actual work, romantic relationships, and friendships (some become misogynistic after setbacks; Chizuko Ueno’s *Misogyny*), get battered by society, and gradually engage more deeply with practical realities. People continue to diverge toward the left and right. Turning right is, of course, a mainstream tendency among the petty and small bourgeoisie, and signs of this can also be seen online.

The left-wing direction is to accept one’s identity as an ordinary person and a worker, and discover that proletarians are not unruly people from impoverished, inhospitable places; instead, the petty bourgeoisie and upper classes are alienated. One becomes more pragmatic and unpretentious, using Marxism to examine and rebuild one’s worldview, outlook on life, and values.

Practice -> understanding -> further practice. (Previous article: “A Brief Discussion of Building a Personal System of Thought.”)