this is why nothing ever happens
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Michael Burns walks through Søren Kierkegaard's 1846 essay The Present Age, arguing that this 180-year-old diagnosis of modernity reads as a precise map of internet and social-media culture. The video traces how Kierkegaard distinguished between a passionate age—one organized around decision and action—and a reflective age trapped in endless contemplation and information-gathering. Burns uses this framework to explain why scrolling, doomposting, and content-consumption feel simultaneously urgent and hollow: we mistake thinking about the world for engaging with it. The argument hinges on Kierkegaard's famous line that "nothing ever happens" in an age of reflection, only "publicity and advertisement"—a claim that lands hardest when applied to algorithmic feeds that promise constant news while nothing substantive changes.
The video ranges across philosophy, economics, and media criticism. It examines how capitalism and the attention economy conspire to keep us in a reflective trap: watching guitar tutorials instead of playing, scrolling political discourse instead of organizing, producing endless content that enriches platforms while depleting our actual lives. Kierkegaard's proposed cure is simple and severe: decision—the act of committing so passionately to an idea that it forces you from possibility into actuality, from thought into being. Burns emphasizes that Kierkegaard saw reflection itself as neutral; the problem emerges only when it becomes an end in itself, a substitute for living. The video also touches on how Kierkegaard understood religious faith—not as intellectual assent but as a way of being—and applies that principle beyond theology: ideas only matter if they change how you actually exist.
Kierkegaard's 1846 critique of the 'present age' as trapped in endless reflection rather than passionate action directly diagnoses contemporary internet culture, where algorithmic media creates cycles of distraction and comparison that replace decisive action with perpetual consumption.
- Kierkegaard observed that reflection-dominated cultures substitute thinking about possibilities for actual decision and action
- Modern attention economy and capitalism economically incentivize keeping people trapped in cycles of media consumption and reflection
- Decision is the mechanism that breaks the reflective trap by forcing transition from abstract possibility to concrete actuality
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Kierkegaard's central remedy is decision — 'decision is the little magic word existence respects' — because decision breaks the cycle of reflection by forcing us to stop contemplating and lets thought facilitate action, moving us from the realm of possibility to the realm of actuality.
“decision is the little magic word existence respects. Decision breaks us out of that cycle of reflection because it forces us to stop contemplating and lets our thoughts facilitate our actions. You know, it takes us from the realm of possibility to the realm of actuality.”
Kierkegaard distinguishes a 'passionate age' (one of decision and action) from a 'reflective age' (one of pondering and consideration) — one age does things while the other merely thinks about the possibility of one day maybe doing things.
“The passionate age is one of decision and action while the reflective age is one of pondering and consideration. You know, one age does stuff while the other age thinks about the possibilities of one day potentially maybe doing some stuff.”
For Kierkegaard, being religious means living in a certain way rather than merely thinking the right things — 'God is not a what, but a how' — and merely agreeing with church doctrine does not make one Christian without passionately appropriating that doctrine into one's life; this principle applies beyond religion.
“folks acting like agreeing with church doctrine made them Christians rather than passionately relating to doctrine and appropriating it into their lives. For Kierkagard, God is not a what, but a how.”
For Kierkegaard, to truly exist is to be passionately related to an idea in such a way that it changes your life and leads to action; this belief — that if ideas matter they should facilitate decision and action — defined the age of revolution and protects against becoming part of a one-leveled herd that believes the same things as everyone else.
“For Kierkagard to really exist is to be passionately related to an idea in such a way that it changes your life and leads you to some sort of action. This is what defined the age of revolution.”
Kierkegaard uses 'reflection' partly in Hegel's sense — where thought moves outward to understand an external concept and returns to itself with greater understanding — but his concern is that in his era reflection became an end in itself, where the point of thinking about the world was merely to understand it conceptually.
“for Hegel reflection is a way that thought moves to understand an external concept before coming back to itself. It's a sort of cycle in which thinking about a thing helps us to understand the thing.”
Kierkegaard's line 'A revolutionary age is an age of action. Ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens, but there is immediate publicity everywhere' captures how contemporary politics and media maintain a constant narrative that big important things are happening while in reality nothing changes and everything feels the same.
“A revolutionary age is an age of action. Ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens, but there is immediate publicity everywhere. In the present age, a rebellion is, of all things, the most unthinkable.”
Kierkegaard's 1846 book 'The Present Age' describes a culture dominated by understanding and reflection without passion, where individuals are unable to pull away from thinking to passionately engage with the world, a condition that directly parallels modern internet-dominated existence.
“Our age is essentially one of understanding and reflection without passion momentarily bursting into enthusiasm and shrewdly relapsing into repose.”
Kierkegaard's 1846 'The Present Age' describes a culture in which abundant access to knowledge and reflection has replaced a spirit of passion and action — we spend so much time thinking about things that we forget to actually do anything.
“Kirkagergard is describing a culture in which we have more access to knowledge and information than ever before and in which the lure of understanding and reflection has been so enticing that we've used it to replace a spirit of passion and action.”
When the present age is not momentarily distracted by enthusiastic ideas, it is united by a stultifying envy that traps us in our own reflection surrounded by the reflection of others; the ease of constant social comparison makes it hard to detach from this mode of existence.
“what Kirkugard suggests unites it is a staltifying feeling of envy which traps us in our own reflection surrounded by the reflection of others. Basically, when it's easier than ever to constantly compare ourselves to those around us, it becomes really hard to detach ourselves from that mode of existence”
Kierkegaard does not argue that reflection or thinking is inherently bad; rather, he holds that becoming caught in reflection is the trap that prevents decision and full existence.
“Kirkugard doesn't argue that reflection or thinking is necessarily a bad thing. He just thinks that becoming caught in reflection is a trap that keeps us from making decisions and fully existing.”
Decision is the mechanism that breaks the reflective trap by forcing a transition from contemplation to action, moving thought from the realm of abstract possibility to concrete actuality.
“one of his main remedies here is that he thinks we need to get out of our heads and off our asses and make some decisions. As he puts it, decision is the little magic word existence respects. Decision breaks us out of that cycle of reflection because it forces us to stop contemplating and lets our thoughts facilitate our actions. You know, it takes us from the realm of possibility to the realm of actuality.”
Statistical tables of intelligence consumption by generation would show astounding amounts consumed by quiet, well-to-do families and by young people and children.
“If we had statistical tables of the consumption of intelligence from generation to generation as we have for spirits, we should be astounded at the enormous amount of scruple and deliberation consumed by small, wellto-do families living quietly, and at the amount which the young and even children use.”
For Kierkegaard, to truly exist religiously or otherwise is to be passionately related to an idea in such a way that it changes one's life and leads to action, not merely to agree with doctrine or think the right thoughts.
“For Kierkagard, God is not a what, but a how. You know, faith is very important for him. For Kirkard to be religious is to live in a certain way, not just to think the right stuff.”
In the age of reflection, money takes on a spiritual quality as the one thing that represents value — even though that value is purely abstract — as Kierkegaard noted when he wrote 'In the end money will be the one thing people will desire.'
“In the end, therefore, money will be the one thing people will desire. Which is moreover only represented an abstraction.”
In the age of reflection, nothing consequential happens but there is immediate publicity everywhere, creating the illusion of momentous events while actual change stalls, a dynamic perfectly descriptive of contemporary media and politics.
“A revolutionary age is an age of action. Ours is the age of advertisement and publicity. Nothing ever happens, but there is immediate publicity everywhere. In the present age, a rebellion is, of all things, the most unthinkable.”
Kierkegaard's concept of reflection is both practical and philosophical, drawing on Hegelian thought where reflection is a cycle in which thought externalizes to understand an object before returning to the self with deeper understanding.
“when he's talking about reflection he's using the term both in a practical sense but also in a way that is explicitly referencing the philosophy of Hegel and his broader influence on 19th century thought. Now for Hegel reflection is a way that thought moves to understand an external concept before coming back to itself. It's a sort of cycle in which thinking about a thing helps us to understand the thing. It's like if I'm on a walk and I see a new flower, I reflect on this new thing that I haven't thought before. I'm externalizing that reflection to comprehend an object and eventually it comes back to me and now I have a further understanding of that flower.”
Kierkegaard distinguishes between an age of passion (characterized by decision and action) and an age of reflection (characterized by pondering and consideration without decisive action), with modern societies having shifted toward the latter.
“tierard makes sense of the shift by drawing a distinction between an age of passion and an age of reflection. The passionate age is one of decision and action while the reflective age is one of pondering and consideration. You know, one age does stuff while the other age thinks about the possibilities of one day potentially maybe doing some stuff.”
The attention economy and capitalism work together to economically incentivize keeping people trapped in cycles of reflection, where screen time directly generates profit for platform owners.
“when we stay glued to our screens consuming or creating content, we're quite literally making money for other people. And as Kierkagard sees it, the concern for money pulls us further and further away from what we should actually be concerned with, life and actuality.”
The reflective trap creates a 'one-leveled herd' where people believe the same things because they're all consuming the same media and reinforcing it among themselves, preventing genuine individual thought and action.
“this keeps us not only from the endless cycle of reflection, but from becoming part of oneleveled herd in which we believe the same stuff as everyone else because we're all consuming the same media all the time and then just reinforcing it among ourselves.”
The internet and algorithmic social media platforms are designed to serve the economic aims of wealthy tech executives while users remain trapped in cycles of consuming and reacting to stimuli.
“so many of us are just sitting around all day staring at our screens, refreshing our feeds so that we can immediately react to a constant stream of stimuli that ultimately serves the algorithmic and economic aims of some of the worst dorks on the planet who are counting money in their mansions”
Enthusiasm in the age of reflection serves momentarily to distract from fundamental issues until replaced by the next distraction, creating a perpetual cycle where people cycle through excitement about new things without sustaining commitment.
“why is it that during one era enthusiasm was a collective force that made people more individually and collectively passionate. While today enthusiasm serves the momentary purpose of distracting us until the next thing comes along. You ever have that feeling? You like read a new thing, you see a new thing, you watch a new thing, you get really excited, it feels like it's going to change your life, but then there's another thing and then you you think about the other thing, you get distracted, you forget about the first thing, and that just happens over and over every day, and then one day you die.”
Christians who argue theology on Twitter but don't feed the poor or care for their neighbors are failing to authentically exist in the Kierkegaardian sense.
“That might mean that the Christian arguing about theology on Twitter all day shuts their laptop and goes outside to feed the poor and care for their neighbor.”
The attention economy and capitalism work together to make it economically valuable to keep us trapped in a cycle of reflection — when we stay glued to screens consuming or creating content, we are literally making money for other people, pulling us further from life and actuality.
“the forces of the attention economy and capitalism worked together to not only keep us trapped in a cycle of reflection, but they made it incredibly valuable to keep us trapped in that cycle”
Consuming content about an activity can substitute for and crowd out actually doing the activity — illustrated by spending more hours watching guitar tutorials than actually playing the guitar — which produces a feeling of accomplishment without real action and ultimately feels bad.
“I had a mild existential freak out a few months ago when I realized I was spending more time consuming content about playing the guitar than I did playing the goddamn guitar.”
Envy created by constant comparison in reflection-dominated cultures becomes a paralysing force that traps people in their own reflection and the reflection of others, preventing decisive action.
“when the present age isn't momentarily distracted with enthusiastic ideas, what Kirkugard suggests unites it is a staltifying feeling of envy which traps us in our own reflection surrounded by the reflection of others. Basically, when it's easier than ever to constantly compare ourselves to those around us, it becomes really hard to detach ourselves from that mode of existence and do something else.”
Consuming content about activities creates a psychological illusion of action and accomplishment that substitutes for actually doing those activities, as exemplified by watching guitar tutorials without playing guitar.
“watching YouTube videos and listening to podcast about politics can make us feel the enthusiasm and accomplishment of actually doing something in the world. You know, a way that I've experienced this in recent years is the hours that I have spent watching YouTube guitar tutorials. I'll sit there for hours sometimes watching a guitarist explain some type of jazz scale or arpeggio without ever actually picking up the guitar and doing the thing myself.”
Kierkegaard saw the growth of journalism, gossip, and media speculation in his day as predicting our era of reality TV and social media — media innovations that emphasize understanding and observing events rather than acting.
“he saw this philosophical tendency in the media ecosystem of his day with the growth of journalism leading to more and more emphasis on understanding what was happening”
Kierkegaard does not argue that reflection or thinking is inherently bad, but rather that becoming caught in reflection is a trap that prevents decision and full existence.
“It's also important for me to say that Kirkugard doesn't argue that reflection or thinking is necessarily a bad thing. He just thinks that becoming caught in reflection is a trap that keeps us from making decisions and fully existing.”
Politically engaged leftists who spend excessive time posting on social media should instead join local political organizations to enact real change.
“That might mean that the terminally online leftist stops posting so much and joins a local political organization.”
In the age of reflection, money takes on a spiritual quality as the one abstract thing that represents value, a concern for money that pulls people away from life and actuality.
“In the end, therefore, money will be the one thing people will desire. Which is moreover only represented an abstraction. One line down, he imagines a young man who doesn't care about art or fame or beautiful girls, but instead says, 'Give me money and I am saved.'”
Kierkegaard's concern was that in his era, reflection became an end in itself—the point of thinking about the world was simply to understand it conceptually—enabled by media innovations like journalism and gossip culture that emphasized understanding and speculation over action.
“Kirkagard's concern was that in his era, reflection was seen as an end in itself. The point of thinking about the world was simply to just understand it conceptually. And he saw this philosophical tendency in the media ecosystem of his day with the growth of journalism leading to more and more emphasis on understanding what was happening.”
The accessibility and brevity of Kierkegaard's text makes it a practical philosophy book that might actually help people live more meaningfully, distinguishing it from many academic philosophy books.
“why I think it's so important and why it's one of the rare philosophy books that might actually help you live a more meaningful life”
Modern internet/digital-media culture keeps people sitting and reacting to a constant stream of stimuli that primarily serves the algorithmic and economic interests of platform owners rather than the users themselves.
“refreshing our feeds so that we can immediately react to a constant stream of stimuli that ultimately serves the algorithmic and economic aims of some of the worst dorks on the planet who are counting money in their mansions”
The book 'The Present Age' is short enough to read completely in one medium-length bus ride.
“Also, it's short like like it's a really short book, so you could read the whole thing on a medium length bus ride if you wanted to.”
Kierkegaard was a depressed Danish philosopher who may or may not have died a virgin.
“It's a book written in 1846 by a depressed Danish philosopher who may or may not have died a virgin, Saurin Kirkugards”
Reading books and engaging with philosophical content can substitute for doing things, making it important for the speaker to now practice music rather than watch more videos about music.
“I'm going to try to get back to doing something real, not just looking at videos. Try to finally work on this like Barry Harris scale thing that I learned about having practice.”
In 2007, contemporary political movements like the French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, May 68 in Paris, and the Zapatistas in Chiapas represented passionate, action-oriented engagement that contrasted with the speaker's lived experience of advertising and publicity.
“at the time that I first read that, I was enamored with political movements like the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, uh, May 68 in Paris, the Zapatistas and Chiapas, all while I was living at a time when it increasingly felt like every aspect of my life was being further dominated by the forces of advertising and publicity.”
This book is one of the rare philosophy books that might actually help you live a more meaningful life, and it is short enough to read on a medium-length bus ride.
“it's one of the rare philosophy books that might actually help you live a more meaningful life. Also, it's short like it's a really short book, so you could read the whole thing on a medium length bus ride”
Kierkegaard would have been both utterly disgusted by social media while also being an 'all-time poster,' suggesting social media platforms appeal to both his critique and his own tendencies.
“I'm confident that Kirkagard would have both been utterly disgusted by social media while also being an all-time poster.”
Kierkegaard would have been utterly disgusted by social media while also being an all-time prolific poster.
“Kirkagard would have both been utterly disgusted by social media while also being an all-time [ __ ] poster”
The speaker encourages people to read Kierkegaard's text themselves given its brevity and contemporary relevance.
“I really encourage you to read this book for yourself, it's very short. You can do it.”
The speaker experienced life change after reading Kierkegaard's 'The Present Age' in fall 2007 while in grad school at the University of North Dakota.
“I read this book for the first time in the fall of 2007 when I was in grad school at the University of Nadina. Now, I was already fascinated with Kierkard's style of religious existentialism and I initially picked up the book as I was told it's one of the few places where Kierkard talks explicitly about politics and society. And what really blew my mind is how much this book written almost 200 years ago reflects the feeling of existing in a culture dominated by the internet and digital media.”
The speaker initially dismissed Kierkegaard's analysis as incomplete compared to Marx's 'Capital,' but was won over by Kierkegaard's insight about money becoming a spiritual abstraction in modern life.
“in my sandy blonde hubris, I'm thinking to myself while reading this book, 'Sure, Saurin, I get what you're saying, but while you were doing noof fap paternity up in Denmark, Carl Marx was down in England putting it all together and showing how capitalism is the thing that makes all this happen.' And then I kept reading and he hit me with this line. He writes, 'In the end, therefore, money will be the one thing people will desire.'”
The speaker picked up 'The Present Age' because they were told it's one of the few places where Kierkegaard explicitly discusses politics and society.
“I initially picked up the book as I was told it's one of the few places where Kierkard talks explicitly about politics and society.”
The speaker maintains a Patreon where they hold bi-weekly seminars reading texts like Frederick Jameson's work with paying subscribers.
“If you want to read books with me, consider signing up for my Patreon where we're currently reading Frederick Jameson for the indefinite future. There's a link below. I'm doing seminars every other week. It's been really fun so far. Would love to have you there.”
The speaker is attempting a new format for their video content where they discuss books they like in depth, departing from other formats they may have been using.
“Also, this is me trying out a new format where I just talk about books I like a lot. Who knows if this will work, but I hope you like it.”