Modern society has perfected the art of making Meaning Factcheck Usage

Modern society has perfected the art of making people feel unnecessary. It’s a gut punch of a quote that explains so much of the modern malaise we see around us.

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Table of Contents

• Meaning
• Explanation
• Origin & Factcheck
• Context
• Usage Examples
• FAQ

Meaning

At its core, this quote means that the very structure of our modern, industrialized world systematically strips away our sense of being essential, valued contributors to a community.

Explanation

You know, I’ve thought about this a lot. It’s not about some grand conspiracy. It’s about the slow, quiet erosion of our roles. Think about it. In a traditional tribe, your skills—hunting, building, healing, storytelling—were directly tied to the group’s survival. You were needed. Now? We’re cogs in a massive, impersonal machine. You can do your job perfectly, but if you leave, the company just hires someone else. There’s no visceral feedback that you as an individual are crucial. We’ve outsourced so much—from growing food to raising our kids in communal settings—that we’ve lost the daily, tangible proof of our own necessity. And that creates a deep, psychic wound. It’s a feeling of profound disconnection.

Quote Summary

Context	Attributes
Original Language	English (3668)
Category	Wisdom (385)
Topics	modernity (6), purpose (186), society (20)
Literary Style	analytical (121), plain (102)
Emotion / Mood	critical (18), somber (55)
Overall Quote Score	77 (179)

Origin & Factcheck

This is straight from Sebastian Junger’s 2016 book, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging. It’s a work of non-fiction that came out of his experiences as a war correspondent. You sometimes see this sentiment echoed elsewhere, but this is the original, powerful phrasing from Junger.

Attribution Summary

Context	Attributes
Author	Sebastian Junger (60)
Source Type	Book (4032)
Source/Book Name	Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (60)
Origin Timeperiod	21st Century (1892)
Original Language	English (3668)
Authenticity	Verified (4032)

Where is this quotation located?

Quotation	Modern society has perfected the art of making people feel unnecessary
Book Details	Publication Year: 2016; ISBN: 978-1-4555-6638-6; Last edition: 2017; Number of pages: 192.
Where is it?	Chapter 2: War Makes You an Animal, Approximate page 46 from 2017 edition

Context

Junger was looking at a paradox: why do some soldiers have a harder time coming home to a safe, comfortable society than they did in a dangerous war zone? His argument is that in a platoon, in a tribe, you have a clear, irreplaceable purpose. You look out for each other. Modern society, for all its safety and abundance, often fails to provide that same profound sense of belonging and mutual dependency.

Usage Examples

This isn’t just an academic idea. You can use it to reframe so many conversations. For instance, when talking to a friend who’s feeling burned out and pointless at their corporate job. Or when discussing the mental health crisis with a colleague—it points to a root cause deeper than just chemical imbalance. It’s also powerful for leaders and managers trying to build a stronger company culture. You have to ask: How am I making my team feel necessary? Truly, genuinely needed?

To whom it appeals?

Context	Attributes
Theme	Meaning (164)
Audiences	psychologists (197), sociologists (21), students (3111), writers (363)
Usage Context/Scenario	public lectures (3), social commentary (13), teaching sociology (1), writing op-eds (1)

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FAQ

Question: Is Junger saying we should go back to a tribal society?

Answer: Not at all. He’s not advocating for a literal return, but rather highlighting what we’ve lost so we can find ways to reintegrate those elements—deep community, mutual aid, a clear sense of purpose—into our modern lives.

Question: Does this mean modern society is bad?

Answer: It’s more about the trade-offs. We’ve gained incredible material comfort and individual freedom, but we’ve often sacrificed the deep, psychological security that comes from being an indispensable part of a small, tightly-knit group.

Question: How can I combat this feeling in my own life?

Answer: It’s about seeking out or creating your own “tribes.” Find communities where your specific presence matters—a sports team, a volunteer group, a mastermind group, a close-knit neighborhood. Places where if you didn’t show up, people would genuinely notice and be affected.