In 1882, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed in his Die fröhliche Wissenschaft collection that God was dead. Owing the decline in faith to the advancements of Man and the slow-moving cultural shift towards rationality and science during the Age of Enlightenment, Nietzsche believed that the morals and values associated with Christianity would be abandoned and that nihilism would soon reign.
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
Nearly 150 years later, we now stand and confront the modern equivalent of this very idea. Twitter user @Kuwaddo pointed out this week that Google search trends for “memes” had finally surpassed those for “Jesus.” With a steady climb from 2011, memes have undoubtedly become a pillar for youth’s culture expression and relation to the world around them. Now, with the hard data in tow, it appears Nietzsche’s philosophy has come true once again.
Check below for an image of the search data.
WE DID IT PEOPLE.
WE FUCKING DID IT.
HOLY SHIT. pic.twitter.com/RgfAM2H9W2— Quad (@Kuwaddo) October 25, 2016
Source: Consequence of Sound