Nietzsche is considered to be one of the greatest and most daring philosophers of all time, and for good reason. His work changed philosophy forever, and improved the lives of millions, with his ideas aiming to re-evaluate all values. One of which, outlined the process on how to reach a “superhuman” state, which is the most ideal way for someone to live, putting you above social norms and constraints that are placed onto us by the modern world. Whilst also famously stating that “God is dead”, and we are the ones that have killed him. To better understand these philosophies, we must first start at the beginning.
Nietzsche lived for the most part, a lonely and depressive life, being born in the year 1844, into a family devoted to Christianity. A faith that he soon began to question as he grew up due to many tragic events unfolding in his life. His father, a man committed to praising God, got diagnosed with a terminal brain disease, causing him to suffer in pain for a year, after which, he died at the age of only 35. Growing up with only his mother and sister who had questionable ethics as I’ll cover later, he preferred to be separate from them, consequently he had a sombre childhood, before later going on to study theology and classical philosophy at University, where he showed strong intellectual promise. As a result of this, he was very soon after, able to become the youngest professor to ever be hired there, still to this day. Due to the many constraints he felt academia placed onto him however, he didn’t end up staying long, in pursuit of being able to become more free and live by his own values, resulting in his move to the Swiss Alps as a consequence, alongside his increasingly poor health which had bothered him most his life, suffering from many headaches, poor eyesight and nausea. He continued to live a lonely life in the Alps, spending the majority of his time thinking, walking and reading. Philosophy is what allowed him to feel free and ended up writing many books, which would later become some of the most profound philosophical works to date, challenging many accepted conventional ideas, however, he died before any of his books properly sold. His sister tried to change many of his writings after his death to suit her fascist ideology and to become a source of propaganda for her own gain. Thankfully, we still have access to much of his original works, so we are able to explore his true ideology.
Becoming Superhuman (Übermensch)
Nietzsche said that God was dead and that we were the ones that had killed him. He doesn’t mean this in a literal sense, but rather, the Western culture which had deep rooted foundations of Christian ideas had become increasingly weak due to many people abandoning the values the Bible taught. Whilst he recognised that religion played an important role for guiding people on how to live, he disliked how it presented ‘absolute values’, rules that should be followed unquestionably, and had the same issue with society as a whole. The way we got socialised into following certain ideology, and getting penalised for ever going against what was mainstream. This is why he proposed the idea of the ‘superhuman’, improving yourself to the extent where you become psychologically superior to those who choose to live by the pre-set norms, describing it as the most optimal person someone can be, leading to a fulfilling and meaningful life. It required you to not blindly follow the master, obeying whatever there wisdom was, but instead to filter through there teachings through your own knowledge and life experience. Forming your own set of values and beliefs as a result. Build on others ideas, like those of the ancient Greek philosophers, and then cater them to your own life. Other peoples wisdom should only be seen as a source of inspiration. It’s like buying a suit, you will never look better in one that is straight off the rack, then you will to one that is bespoke to your body. Going against the grain, will inevitably lead to conflict from others, but according to Nietzsche, in order to live an authentic life, you have to be able to stop following the safe path blindly, like so many do. This idea is increasing relevant to today’s contemporary society, with many being influenced by the media into having more radicalised views, without them realising why they even believe in it in the first place. To be superhuman, Nietzsche says that you should rather then set individual goals, set collective ones instead, that will help in pushing humanity forward. This can be done in many forms, like that of teaching, parenting, innovating, becoming an artist, philosopher and much more. Your contribution to the human species can be enormous if you choose it to be. Along with mastering your emotions, having the ability to just enjoy existing and to resist the ‘absolute values’ of society, breaking the chains in which we were raised and fighting against anyone who tries to take our freedom away from us. In this way you can be psychologically superior.
Avoid a Reactive Life
“Most humans distract their thoughts, to cease to be aware of life”. Start to be more honest with yourself, when you are running and get tired, don’t kid yourself by saying you were never really bothered about running that far anyway, or thinking that you will try harder the next time a certain opportunity presents itself, “because the environment wasn’t optimal this time”. Avoid gaslighting yourself with lies to make you feel better, and stop being a passive spectator of your own life. Nietzsche says the worst thing you can do is distract yourself with meaningless activities that prevent you from pursuing your true purpose. For us in the 21st century, this distraction is very often modern technology. Is scrolling through TikTok instead of sleeping really the best thing you should be doing, despite you being able to have a lie in the next morning. Life is made up of a series of days, these days are made up of decisions. With each decision you make, evaluate whether it is one that is bringing you closer to your goals and is aligned with your purpose. You want to be able to be proud of yourself, not feeling shame in the actions you undertake. One of Nietzsche’s most famous quotes is “He who has a why can tolerate almost any how”. If you know what your values are, no matter the situation that presents itself, you will be able to figure out a way to endure it. One of the values that Nietzsche lives by, to avoid a reactive life is not holding onto resentment. Saying that it is a poison that’s a trademark of a slave mentality and a sign of weakness, harming no one more the the weak person himself. Be strong enough to forget and recuperate, not holding onto the memory for too long, ignoring the small people that try and sway you off your path, remembering that they wouldn’t be doing so if they had a path of their own. Any revenge or resentment should only be done in the moment that the person is acting against you, after that it must be forgotten. and anything otherwise just holds you back, depriving your mind of much needed clarity. Build yourself up, instead of trying to pull others down.
Live Dangerously
Nietzsche says that the secret to harvesting the greatest fruitfulness and enjoyment is to live dangerously. To test your limits, enjoy living outside your comfort zone, and being able to express your individuality freely and not threatened by people who only wish to live safely, copying others instead of risking standing out by expressing who they really are. No one changes the world by pretending to be someone else. Elon Musk, regardless of what you think of him has revolutionised space travel. He wouldn’t have been able to do so if he wasn’t even interested in space and if it was not true to him, as he wouldn’t be able to be fully dedicated to it. Another one of Nietzsche’s most famous quotes was “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”. He says to be like the phoenix, always ready to rise up from our ashes. There is no situation so bad, that can not be seen in a positive light and a lesson cannot be learned from it. Think of the worst thing that has happened to you, zoom out of yourself and become an observer, detaching your emotions from the experience, allowing you to see it clearly, and you will then be able to take something good from it and a lesson you learnt because of it. Suffering undoubtedly makes you stronger. The same with going to the gym. The person who benches 100kg will be a lot bigger and stronger then the person that can only bench 40kg. The same principle can be applied to your mind, but instead of weights, you have experiences. If you get diagnosed with cancer, you can find purpose in that suffering, by turning your life around, to become a healthier version of yourself, or by donating large amounts of money to cancer research.
Embrace Your Evil
Nietzsche is very much against moral systems that are focused on the good and bad, what is proper behaviour and what is not and that we should not follow any system that tells us to be the same. In keeping with the theme of being ourselves, Nietzsche believes that this includes the darker sides to our personality as well. Emotions like jealousy and anger get suppressed by society as it is immoral to let these things come to light, getting judged as being unstable. The repression of such emotions only leads to a disintegration of the self, but before you start punching people on the street because you feel angry, getting you arrested. You should instead manage the emotion, channelling it towards a beneficial means. If you are angry about your current situation in life, use anger as a tool to push you forwards in achieving the goal of earning more money to get yourself out of the situation you despise. This is what the self-made millionaire Alex Hormozi did. He was angry about how his father wouldn’t let him pursuit his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, alongside his desire to get out of his current situation that he resented so much and prove everyone wrong, he was able to become a millionaire by 23, now having a net worth of over 100 million dollars just 7 years later. If you have a taste for violence, manage it by playing sport or by joining a fighting gym and make the most out of these more evil qualities. Like all things that go against the usual doctrine, you will have to face resistance from other people.
The only thing you should fear is not being your true self.
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