Recently, I think I picked up a lot more articles in the tech circles, on reddit/HN/slashdot etc. that talk about the borders of mental illnesses, the question of the value of the humanities vs. STEM, Buddhism, the meaning of live, and more such fundamental/philosophical topics.
This is purely a gut feeling so far (I didn't do any math on frequencies of posts/submissions or similar), but:
Is this on the increase recently? I do feel some kind of phase transition the last couple of months. I actually posted that at a comment here on HN a while ago, back then I felt it was kind of like a 'collective identity crisis in the west'? Maybe I am just completely projecting my own inner soul searching to the outside world. But I do have the distinct impression that our society is at some kind of inflection point.
If I would try to boil it down to more 'everyday thoughts', I get somewhat of the impression that technology changed society so much that we all collectively begin to realize that we have as many new questions as we gained answers.
No one seems to know what will happen to our now quite-remote-from-the-people-governments, Bitcoin, surveillance, drones, etc.
And I have the impression even most of us are unable to see a clear picture for the future.
If I would look at history, I would expect some kind of mass movement(s?) to form soon.
Is anyone else having similar thoughts?