Its meaning becomes relative, subjective, and in turn circular. If even one individual can argue or not agree with the probable "truth,"" then it cannot be truth.
Finally, postmodernism lends itself across manmade boundaries. It is not a movement meant exclusively for high society, or the most educated, but rather, it grabs popular culture and thrusts it into the mainstream of society. Unlike modernism, postmodernism is a philosophy that does not require an individual to have any understanding of anything outside what he or she is attempting to create or observe. For example, T.S. Elliot's modernist poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, could not be understood successfully by the masses; only those who have an understanding of classical literature, such as Dante's Inferno, Shakespeare, or high art, like Michelangelo, can appreciate and even understand the meaning of the poem. Postmodernism, cringes at the thought of elitism and fights against it with art by Andy Warhol and literature by Thomas Pynchon and Vladimir Nobakov. None of these pieces require an audience member to bring with them any outside understanding to create meaning, only their own beliefs and ideas. .
Following the lead of postmodernism, Thomas Pynchon created The Crying of Lot 49 as a way to critique American culture during the early to mid 20th century. During this time, the world had passed through two World Wars, America was becoming involved in the Vietnam War, it had seen the rise and slow decline of McCarthyism, the Civil Rights movement was becoming powerful, and there were several assassinations and assassination attempts on major political leaders, including the murder of President John F. Kennedy. Looking at the world situation, specifically that in the United States, it is easy to understand the confusion of that many people must have experienced, and the reason for the development of a philosophy that preached the non-existence of meaning.