You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

When the rest of the world feels like a tooth-and-nail fight for supremacy, when it feels like everyone is always jockeying for position or fame or power or attention, low-stakes competitions can help us cope by giving us small fields of victory. Think of it this way. If you are crippled with anxiety over the prospect of having to find a good and meaningful job, playing Fortnite lets you exercise your competitiveness without actually risking much—except your time. The same could be said for fantasy football and a million different mindless mobile games. Then there is also the highly competitive nature of social media with very public records of the popularity of individuals and their posts. Again, all of these things are “tiny and meaningless and—sad-making,” but they help us get through the day by diverting us from higher-stakes competitions. In the end, the man who self-medicates through counseling, antidepressants, exercise, and shopping therapy is just as desperate to cope as the man who self-medicates through Fortnite and the NFL and marijuana. The only difference is that one form of self-medication is socially acceptable and the other is stigmatized.