TikTok makes optimism cool again

We’re going to be alright. (Image: Know Your Meme)

Set to hopeful music like Coldplay’s Viva la Vida or Hopes and Dreams from Undertale, edits of “the indomitable human spirit” have become popular online. These memes are all about how humanity can triumph over an “uncaring universe” and inspire social media users who may be used to the bleakness of recent world events.

The catchphrase began to be used for meme purposes in mid-2022, after which a series of wholesome memes about the value of love amidst difficulty spread online. It’s particularly popular on TikTok in the form of video edits or the new slideshow feature, which allows users to swipe through multiple static images on a single post.

Through these edits, users typically show moments of people, either fictional or from personal experience, sharing hope and channeling determination in the face of adversity. Be it real or reel life, the indomitable human spirit trend serves as a reminder of the power of human willpower.

#indomitablehumanspirit currently has over 97.5 million views on the platform and countless posts expressing gratitude for the optimism it demonstrates.

When it was cool to be depressed

Given how distinct it is from the usual depressing content on our feeds, some users have even created memes about the meme’s hopefulness—and how it’s unironically helping them get motivated. But one has to ask, why has doomposting and doomscrolling been so normalized on the internet that optimism has become rare?

Emotional distress online has been trendy for a while now—not only is posting potentially upsetting content perceived as more “real,” but it is also romanticized. More and more people today report experiencing mental health issues, and the data is certainly concerning. But the culture that trivializes these issues for clout can further distort other people’s perception of mental health.

These trends can make us feel like efforts of humans to get better are futile. The many issues we face, both as individuals and as the human race, might seem greater than us.

And yet, hope exists. It always has. We’re seeing a re-emergence of it with the indomitable human spirit, but this concept is nothing new.

Philosophical origins

The idea that the human will can overcome the difficulties of a callous universe is the main thought of existentialism, a philosophical movement popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. It explores the human condition as a person’s main philosophical problem.

Under this bigger movement, absurdism’s school of thought focuses on the human quest for meaning in life and the absurdity of this quest—because ultimately, no such meaning can possibly be found by humans.

Still, famous absurdist Albert Camus theorized that humans go in search of meaning anyway. And this innate desire to find meaning clashes head-to-head with a lack of a higher purpose. With this, he proposed three possible ways for people to cope: suicide, a leap of faith towards a belief in something bigger, and acceptance.

The indomitable spirit memes reflect this struggle in the acknowledgement that today’s social media users are disillusioned by the world around them. They are constantly exposed to content about violence, discrimination, and other divisive issues, and this doesn’t even cover the lower quality of life experienced in most societies.

Glimpses of hope like this don’t come around often. A wholesome meme can be a breath of fresh air to otherwise numb people worldwide, and this one in particular stands out for its brief comfort through our search for happiness.

Not all rainbows and butterflies

With the re-emergence of optimism in meme culture, it's easier to find a space to share hope with others.

On the flip side, though, the indomitable human spirit trend can also easily snowball into another way to romanticize resilience if we aren’t careful. Despite the meaninglessness in our search for meaning, memes about living through unprecedented times shouldn’t be used to glorify very real struggles.

As long as the meme stays true to its original intention of inspiring people to just do their best, we can expect the meme to keep giving. After all, a reminder of the indomitable human spirit may be what many people need right now. And I don’t know about you, but I may or may not have shed a tear just scrolling through a slideshow of some motivational content on my FYP.