If you know what the Internet is you have heard of memes by now.
They are usually pictures with overlaid text conferring a mass inside joke that people share.
One trend that has been growing in the meme industry is the shared joke, “I want to die.”
The debate concerning whether joking about suicide is okay has subliminally overtaken our culture.
The reason it is subliminal is that we, as a society, have demonized suicide.
As a person who has thought about suicide my response critiques that demonization, for how can people who have not considered suicide possibly understand it?
How can a person tell me that my thoughts are bad, or unhealthy?
French Philosopher Albert Camus had an interesting perspective on suicide.
Camus argued that, “Should I kill myself,” is the essential philosophical question.
Camus saw suicide as a natural response to the absurdity of life.
We eat dinner on a piece of wood hewn from a tree that humans killed so we could have a place designated for eating.
We live on a massive rock hurtling through the vacuum of space in an infinite universe.
The concept of life is foundationally absurd.
To a person who closely inspects the world we live in it seems that we distract ourselves with commodities and drama as to avoid confronting our own existence.
Basically, the distractions of our daily lives cover up the meaningless of life.
The question then becomes, “How do I find meaning in life?”
French Philosopher Jean-Paul Satre claimed, “Existence precedes essence.”
He meant that we are born into this world with a blank slate that we fill with our experiences and desires that craft our essence, or meaning.
People who see past the façade of spending our whole lives in a constant state of distraction naturally ask themselves if they should commit suicide.
To be clear, I am not saying that we should all commit suicide because life is meaningless. I am saying that in order to be the best, whether as an individual or a society, we should ask what our priorities are.
The people who make memes are young and have been raised in a culture that is self-aware, so it is expected that they are depressed and think about suicide.
A Twitter user reached out to Rick and Morty show-runner Dan Harmon for advice on how to deal with depression and thoughts about suicide.
“The most important thing I can say to you is please don’t deal with it alone. There is an incredible, miraculous magic to pushing your feelings out,” Harmon replied. “Even writing, ‘I want to die’ on a sheet of paper and burning it will feel better than thinking about it alone. Output is magical.”
That’s the whole point of memes joking about suicide.
We feel it and joke about it to not only express our feelings with others, but to take the power away from our suicidal thoughts.
That is why it is okay.
