People may face feelings of insignificance due to a number of causes, including having low

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

, being depressed, living in a huge, impersonal city, comparing themselves to wealthy celebrity success stories,Celeb craze fuels fear of insignificance warns psychologist. ''Indian Express''. Available online a
Celeb craze fuels fear of insignificance warns psychologist
Accessed on Dec. 10, 2011. working in a huge bureaucracy, or being in awe of a natural wonder.

Psychological factors

A person's "...sense of personal insignificance comes from two primary experiences: (a) the developmental experience with its increasing awareness of separation and loss, transience, and the sense of lost felt perfectibility; and (b) the increasing cognitive awareness of the immutable laws of biology and the limitations of the self and others in which idealization gives way to painful reality." To deal with feelings of insignificance, "...each individual seeks

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

reparation through the elaboration of a personal narrative or myth, a story, which gives one's life a feeling of personal significance, meaning, and purpose." These "...myths provide the individual with a personal sense of identity, and they confirm and affirm memberships in a group or community, and provide guidelines and an idealized set of behaviors..., ndendorse an explanation for the mysterious universe." In modern society, people living in crowded, anonymous major cities may face feelings of insignificance.

George Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach l ...

's work has addressed the issue of how the "dissociation typical of modern city life, the freeing of the person from traditional social ties as from each other" can lead to a "loss or diminution of individuality." Moreover, when a person feels like "...just another face in the crowd, an object of indifference to strangers", it can "lead to feelings of insignificance..." ALICO Japan office

Individuals working in large, bureaucratic organizations who do not have "concrete evidence of success" may have "feelings of insignificance, disillusionment, and helplessness, which are the hallmarks of

burnout Burnout or burn-out may refer to: Entertainment * ''Burnout'' (film), a 2017 Moroccan film * ''Burn Out'' (film), a 2017 French film * Burnout (ride), a Funfields amusement ride in Australia * ''Burnout'' (series), a racing game series created by ...

. Some people in bureaucratic jobs who lack meaningful tasks, and who feel that institutional mechanisms or obstacles prevent them from receiving official recognition for their efforts, may also face

boreout Boredom boreout syndrome is a psychological disorder that causes physical illness, mainly caused by mental underload at the workplace due to lack of either adequate quantitative or qualitative workload. One reason for boreout could be that the in ...

. People facing an acute depression constantly have " iltiness and insignificance feelings". People facing issues of inferiority, due to the subjective, global, and judgmental self-appraisal that they are deficient may also have feelings of insignificance. In the book ''The Fear of Insignificance'', psychologist

Carlo Strenger Carlo Strenger (; July 16, 1958 – October 25, 2019) was a Swiss and Israeli psychologist, philosopher, existential psychoanalyst and public intellectual who served as professor of psychology and philosophy at Tel Aviv University (at its Cohn In ...

"...diagnoses the wide-spread fear of the global educated class of leading insignificant lives." Strenger warns "...that the global celebrity culture is adding fuel to the 'fear of insignificance' by undermining one’s self-image and sense of self-worth." He noted that "...over recent years people around the world have been suffering from an increasing fear of their own 'insignificance'." He argues that the "impact of the global

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...

network on the individual is to blame," because it has led to the creation of "a new species...homo globalis – global man." In this new system, people "...are defined by our intimate connection to the global infotainment network, which has turned ranking and rating people on scales of wealth and

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

into an obsession." Strenger states that "...as humans we naturally measure ourselves to those around us, but now that we live in a “global village” we are comparing ourselves with the most “significant” elebritypeople in the world, and finding ourselves wanting." He notes that "...in the past being a lawyer or doctor was a very reputable profession, but in this day and age, even high achievers constantly fear that they are insignificant when they compare themselves to elebritysuccess stories in the media. Strenger claims that this "...creates highly unstable self-esteem and an unstable society."

Alain de Botton Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and public speaker. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993) ...

describes some of the same issues in his book ''

Status Anxiety ''Status Anxiety'' is a nonfiction book by Alain de Botton. It was first published in 2004 by Hamish Hamilton; subsequent publications have been by Penguin Books. Central thesis According to De Botton, "status anxiety" is a 21st-century phenomen ...

''. Botton's book examines people's anxiety about whether they are judged a success or a failure. De Botton claims that chronic anxiety about status is an inevitable

side effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually use ...

of any democratic, ostensibly

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

stated that “It is less mortifying to believe one's self unpopular than insignificant, and vanity prefers to assume that indifference is a latent form of unfriendliness.”

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

wrote that “If you once realize that to-morrow, if not to-day, you will die and nothing will be left of you, everything becomes insignificant!”

In philosophy

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

emphasized "the apparent insignificance of human existence, the "...dread of an unknown future", and the "...experience of being dominated by political and natural forces that far exceed our limited powers"; these elements "strike a chord of recognition with some of the existentialist writings that emerged in Europe following the Second World War."

Erich Fromm Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and set ...

states that in modern capitalist societies, people develop a "...feeling of personal insignificance and powerlessness" due to "...economic recessions, global wars and terrorism." Fromm argues that in capitalist societies, the "...individual became subordinated to capitalist production and worked for profit's sake, for the development of new investment capital and for conspicuous spending." In making people "...work for extrapersonal ends," capitalism made people into a "servant to the very machine he built" and caused feelings of insignificance to arise.

In religion

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

believed that the solution to the feelings of insignificance felt by the common person "...was to accept individual insignificance, to submit, to give up individual will and strength and hope to become acceptable to God."

In relation to awe

A person who is in awe of a monumental natural wonder, such as a massive mountain peak or waterfall, may feel insignificant. Awe is an

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

comparable to

wonder Wonder may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Wonder'' (film), a 2017 drama based on the R. J. Palacio novel * ''The Wonder'' (film), a 2022 drama based on the Emma Donoghue novel * Wonder, a character in the 2006 American family film ''Z ...

but less

joy Joy is the state of being that allows one to experience feelings of intense, long-lasting happiness and contentment of life. It is closely related to, and often evoked by, well-being, success, or good fortune. Happiness, pleasure, and gratitu ...

ous, and more

fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

ful or

respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...

ful. Awe is defined in

Robert Plutchik Robert Plutchik (21 October 1927 – 29 April 2006) was an American psychologist who was professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia ...

's Wheel of emotions as a combination of surprise and

. One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures". In general awe is directed at objects considered to be more powerful than the subject, such as the breaking of huge waves on the base of a rocky cliff, the thundering roar of a massive waterfall, the

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years ...

, the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, or the vastness of open space in the cosmos (e.g., the

overview effect The overview effect is a cognitive shift reported by some astronauts while viewing the Earth from outer space, space. Researchers have characterized the effect as "a state of awe with self-transcendence, self-transcendent qualities, precipitated b ...

). In her column in Scientific American,

Jennifer Ouellette Jennifer Ouellette is an American science writer and editor. Career Ouellette's website describes her as a "recovering English major who stumbled into science writing quite by accident as a struggling freelance writer in New York City." Acco ...

referred to the vastness of the cosmos:

If one embraces an atheist worldview, it necessarily requires embracing, even celebrating, one's insignificance. It's a tall order, I know, when one is accustomed to being the center of attention. The universe existed in all its vastness before I was born, and it will exist and continue to evolve after I am gone. But knowing that doesn't make me feel bleak or hopeless. I find it strangely comforting.

In literary philosophy

The concept of "insignificance" is also important to the literary philosophy of

cosmicism Cosmicism is American author H. P. Lovecraft's name for the literary philosophy he developed and used for his fiction. Lovecraft was a writer of horror stories that involve occult phenomena like astral projection and alien miscegenation, an ...

. One of the prominent themes in cosmicism is the utter insignificance of humanity.

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

believed that "the human race will disappear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn. The sky will become icy and void, pierced by the feeble light of half-dead stars. Which will also disappear. Everything will disappear."

Colin Wilson Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English existentialist philosopher-novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal, eventually writing more than a hundred books. Wilson called his p ...

criticizes “the sense of defeat, or disaster, or futility, that seems to underlie so much...20th century literature", and its tendency "...to portray human existence as insignificant and futile." Wilson "...calls this affliction the "fallacy of insignificance", and as he explains in ''The Stature of Man'' this fallacy is unconsciously embedded in the psychology of the modern individual." Wilson argues that the "other-directed individual...is the typical person found in our modern society today and is a victim of the "fallacy of insignificance"." He claims that the "...other directed individual has been conditioned by society to lack self-confidence in their ability to achieve anything of real worth, and thus they conform to society to escape their feelings of unimportance and uselessness."The Stature of Man - Colin Wilson. Accessed on Dec. 10, 2011.
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References