I think you could say that NIN stands for the struggle to understand the human condition and for being truthful and honest about what can lurk in our hearts and minds, even if those things can sometimes be totally ugly. I tend to think of NIN as pretty existentialist music, which the world could probably use more of, IMO. I think it would also not be off the mark to say that in terms of the music industry, NIN has always stood for blazing trails and pushing the envelope.