We perceive an existential crisis as a juncture of inner-outer and individual-common conflicts, resulting in a pervasive sense of instability. Throughout history, all eras have witnessed existential challenges that inevitably transform and morph into something new. This piece offers a contextualization of several dichotomies I believe are pertinent within the context that confronts us today: a globally interconnected, capitalist, anthropocentric, and technological world. By interweaving events, ideas, and concepts of different philosophers, I would like to suggest that there is an existential crisis arising from the convergence of these dichotomies. It manifests as a period of existential impasse, unveiling contradictions within human thought — experiences that we disregard yet cannot escape. This leads to unsustainable coexistence dynamics. As Inclán (2018) observes, we reside in a “State of Siege,” marked by normalization and control; we persistently exist under the sway of an unseen power.

This existential crisis remains obscured by superficial meanings, bereft of true essence, as articulated by Žižek (2014), who highlights the discomfort of facing the painful truth and the challenge of relinquishing our ingrained ideologies. Can we relinquish rigid, unyielding meanings? Are we capable of stepping beyond the confines of our comfort zone?

In any event, if we are indeed moving toward a paradigm shift, the convergence of these dichotomies heralds its approach, because change often necessitates a crisis. The reconfiguration of our thought processes and our interrelation with both humans and non-humans is a transformative endeavor, an upheaval that resonates with seismic proportions.