What is a zeitgeist? Need examples

[rockyroad55]

I've been introduced to this term in a conversation but am having trouble grasping the meaning of it. Can anyone explain it and give an example that related to today's trends?

 

[maflynn]

Here's what wiki says about it.

The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time. For example, the Zeitgeist of modernism typified and influenced architecture, art, and fashion during much of the 20th century.[1]
The German word Zeitgeist is often attributed to the philosopher Georg Hegel, but he never actually used the word. In his works such as Lectures on the Philosophy of History, he uses the phrase der Geist seiner Zeit (the spirit of his time)—for example, "no man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit."[2]
Other philosophers who were associated with such ideas include Herder and Spencer and Voltaire.[1] The concept counters the Great Man theory popularized by Thomas Carlyle which sees history as the result of the actions of heroes and geniuses.

 

[Shrink]

I've been introduced to this term in a conversation but am having trouble grasping the meaning of it. Can anyone explain it and give an example that related to today's trends?

The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time. For example, the Zeitgeist of modernism typified and influenced architecture, art, and fashion during much of the 20th century.[1]

The term is used to refer to the spirit or feeling of a period of time. For example, the zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties was characterized by wild abandon and dissolute behavior...in reaction to the earlier, more rigidly moralist era.

One might say the zeitgeist of the 1950's was one of boring conformity on the surface, but tension and fear just below the surface.

It's an interesting philosophical and sociological abstraction.

I hope this helps a bit...

 

[rockyroad55]

I'm still confused as to how to recognize a zeitgeist. The only example I can see is hybrid cars. That's the zeitgeist for many of the hybrids we see today.

 

[Shrink]

I'm still confused as to how to recognize a zeitgeist. The only example I can see is hybrid cars. That's the zeitgeist for many of the hybrids we see today.

There isn't A zeitgeist. The word is an abstract term used to describe the spirit of a time period.

Zeitgeist is not a thing...it's an abstract concept.

Not to be critical, but it seems you have not read the posts above.

 

[Happybunny]

Plus you only see IT with hindsight.

 

[rdowns]

I'm still confused as to how to recognize a zeitgeist. The only example I can see is hybrid cars. That's the zeitgeist for many of the hybrids we see today.

You don't recognize a zeitgeist, it becomes apparent over time.

 

[localoid]

The use and abuse of zeitgeist...

To quote briefly from the DailyWritingTips.com's rather revealing article on using "zeitgeist coherently":

Coined by Matthew Arnold in the 19th century to put a name on the spirit of social change and uncertainty that characterized the Victorian Age, zeitgeist has crept into the popular vocabulary where it is flung about without much thought as to what it means. A special interest group and Google have co-opted the word to special uses. “Zeitgeist” is the name attached to a movement launched by a group of social reformers who wish to reallocate world resources under a global government. Google has a statistics function called “Zeitgeist” that aggregates how often particular topics are searched over time. In the web context, a “zeitgeist” is “an idea or image that is iconic of a particular moment.”

Some writers use it as a mere synonym for “trend,” or “fad.” Some plant it in the (usually) redundant phrase “zeitgeist of the moment.” Others, perhaps wishing to create a phrase on the model of Oprah’s “aha moment,” talk about a “zeitgeist moment.”

...

For Matthew Arnold, the 19th century author to whom we owe the term, the zeitgeist is much more than the prevailing world view at a given time in history. It’s a force that influences events. A dehumanizing zeitgeist is something to be resisted.

...

To talk about a “sports zeitgeist” or a “culinary zeitgeist,” or a “fashion zeitgeist” when all one means is “trend,” is to waste a high-powered word.

 

[vrDrew]

Hybrid cars cannot be a Zeitgeist. They are only a single object. However, hybrid cars could be considered part of an overall eco-friendly, renewable-energy Zeitgeist. Just as a hula-hoop isn't, by itself, a Zeitgeist, when considered along with hot-rods, bobby-sox, Elvis songs, juke boxes, drive-in movies and poodle-skirts could all be components of the late 1950s American teenage Zeitgeist.

A Zeitgeist doesn't have to be universal. Obviously, teenagers living in China or Borneo probably weren't listening to Elvis songs or driving hot-rods in 1958. Neither were the WWII veterans drinking Schlitz down at the local American Legion hall. So a Zeitgeist is usually limited to a single subset of society. Not everyone in the late 1970s was going to discos and taking cocaine. But enough people were doing so, that a movie such as 54 could be said to have captured the Zeitgeist of the New York dance club scene of the period.

 

[twietee]

Just in case some don't know:

Zeit = time
Geist = ghost/spirit

 

[drsoong]

Just in case some don't know:

Zeit = time
Geist = ghost

That is a bit misleading. "ghost" is more of a supernatural spirit, while the "Geist" in "Zeitgeist" is the spirit of the people or rather the spirit of the collective people's mind.*

So, the best english expression I could come up with is to call it "spirit of the time" (where time refers to some longer period, maybe a decade) and as rdowns and vrDrew pointed rightly out is therefore only recognised in retrospect.

* Often German seems to be less differentiating in multiple meanings where English has a dedicated word for it.

 

[twietee]

That is a bit misleading. "ghost" is more of a supernatural spirit, while the "Geist" in "Zeitgeist" is the spirit of the people or rather the spirit of the collective people's mind.*

So, the best english expression I could come up with is to call it "spirit of the time" (where time refers to some longer period, maybe a decade) and as rdowns and vrDrew pointed rightly out is therefore only recognised in retrospect.

* Often German seems to be less differentiating in multiple meanings where English has a dedicated word for it.

Yes, you're right of course. Thanks for clarification! Quite thoughtless on my behalf.

 

[phil87]

basically it's a communist propaganda

 

[AngryGerbil]

I'm still confused as to how to recognize a zeitgeist. The only example I can see is hybrid cars. That's the zeitgeist for many of the hybrids we see today.

It's a little more abstract than that. It's something that defines the essence or ethos of an era or period of time. For example,"Annie Hall" captured the zeitgeist of the late 70's. It's not an easily defined term.

 

[Peace]

I don't post a lot of links to commercial websites but I thought this one appropriate .

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com

It has a couple of interesting concept videos about Zeitgeist and the pseudo-religion/philosophy that often accompanies the theory.

Note : This is only one guys personal Zeitgeist "movement". It is in no way to be misconstrued as the definitive concept of Zeitgeist .

I just think the ideas are interesting.