«Defining our era is a monumental challenge.»
«the intricacy, controversy, and even the potential futility of defining anything»

Not just "monumental", but it is entirely IMPOSSIBLE to define anything real.

And there are infinite number of things happening in an era - does anyone seriously attempt to define it in a finite number of words?

«Consider the question, “What is a woman?”... potentially losing the essence of the term.»

A woman is not a term!

Terms are just mental abstractions...
And the essence of mental abstractions is, well, thoughts... or is there something deeper?
The essence of a woman (and of a man too) is, well first try atoms, then protons, neutrons, electrons, etc. which manifest as a woman, or is there something yet deeper?
Yes, we already know (E=mc²) that the essence of all sub-atomic particles, including those that make up a woman, is energy. And is there anything deeper?
How can you define energy?
And how can you define a thought?

Scripture tells those of us who believe it, that the essence of energy is thought,
then the essence of thought, well the essence of the essence of the essence of thoughts and of everything else, ultimately is God - there is nothing else.

Can any of that be defined?
Well of course not.

«What is the zeitgeist of our time?»

That humans living in it are so arrogant that they attempt the impossible and believe they can do it.

Yuyutsu

Man in two parts and his dilemma :

The human mind (spirit), can best be defined as an overpowering unknowing metaphysical influence translated into a physical interpretation of abstract thought through bodily motion.
The proof of this is easily sourced from our dreaming state which highlights the divorce of the mind from the body, taking us on unbelievable journeys of abstract physical impossibility lacking physical attachment to the laws of natural physics, and thus proving the duel nature of man; man in two parts.

The Bible interprets this in simple form, righteousness and wickedness: God the spirit is righteous, the fallen angels (Devil), are the wicked.

That is the lot of man; tortured by instincts and presided over by metaphysical spirit, where both combine, forming individual personalities leading to philosophical differences with impossible conclusions.

Dear Dan,

The Bible does not mention fallen angels.
The source of that idea comes from the book of Enoch, which was not included in the Bible and misinterprets the "Sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6.

The down-to-earth interpretation I studied was that "Sons of God" refers to a high social caste of humans, which called themselves thus as a way of condescension, distinguishing themselves from ordinary people (and their daughters), that's all, nothing too fancy.

In the dreaming state, one is conscious of the contents of their mind (whatever that is, Hindu scripture describes what the mind is made of, but it doesn't really matter for the purpose of this discussion) rather than of the world as presented by one's senses.

The author states:
"The inversion of these values is achieved through widespread gaslighting, propaganda and intimidation that goes unchallenged, much like the tale of the emperor who paraded in his invisible clothes, with only a child daring to speak the truth."

The issue we have today is that those who are doing the gaslighting and spreading the propaganda see themselves as the "child" and the naked "emperor" as the scientists and researchers.

They believe they have some secret and magical knowledge that separates and elevates them above above the "sheeple".

That's the inversion I see.

JP
The trouble with the naive childish creator-God idea is that it does not take into account the death rules to here. Which is to say that all life forms both human, non-human and plants and trees all eventually begin do decay, disintegrate and die.
It is also based on the childish idea that the creator-God is going to look after them. But does the God as proposed by the creator-God really look after anyone?
Where was such a God during the 2004 Tsunami when more that 100,000 human beings perished. Is the influence of such a God to be found in the daily horror-show called the six-thirty news (Skyhooks).

Most creator-God believers pretend that they have been "saved" from really coming to terms with their inevitable (at any minute) death by believing in the usual nonsense about Jesus. They even naively presume that they are "going to heaven" when they die (if they are good!). And they will be bodily "resurrected' when Jesus comes again.
One wonders which body will be "resurrected". The infirm body as it was when it dies (hopefully in bed) or as it was in the prime of their life at 30 years of age.
They also pretend that when Jesus comes again all the billions of non-believers will burn in hell and that Jesus will herald a new kingdom on planet Earth.

JP
Im an athiest and my life is not meaningless.
Lifes what you make it. Its the only one you get.