THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO ON

She is one of the richest and most successful musicians in the world. She is also the best friend you never had. The paradox of being Taylor Swift

- ANJULY MATHAI

There is a joke about Rene Descartes, the French philosopher and scientist who coined the term 'I think, therefore I am'.

One day, Descartes walks into a bar and orders a drink. When he finishes, the bartender asks him if he would like another. He replies, "I think not" and disappears in a puff of logic. Legend goes that Descartes formulated the phrase on a cold winter day in Germany in 1619. He was staying in a small village and in the silence of his stove-heated room, he began thinking. Or rather, doubting. What if everything he believed was false and existence itself was an illusion? But then he reasoned that his train of thought—even just the act of thinking—confirmed the existence of a thinker. He thought, therefore he was.

Today, we are back to the Descartian age of radical doubt and anxiety, especially among the younger generation. When the English rock band Led Zeppelin sang about being dazed and confused, they might have been expressing the existential angst of a disgruntled generation. A 2022 McKinsey survey, for example, found the Gen Z-ers reported higher rates of anxiety, depression and distress than any other age group. They reported the least positive outlook on parameters like income, employment, education, food, housing and transportation. Of course, this is not to say that all is doom and gloom. According to a UNICEF study this year, despite the Gen Z feeling "overwhelmed, disempowered and adrift", more than half remain hopeful and want to contribute to shaping a better future. Many youth icons, like American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, are tapping into this combination of radical doubt and desperate hope. According to research by The O2 Arena, Swift had the highest impact among musicians on the mood and wellbeing of the youth (32 per cent), followed by British singer Ed Sheeran (28 per cent).