Becoming the übermensch (Overman)

“Our way is upward, from the species across to the super-species. But the degenerate mind which says ‘All for me’ is a horror to us.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Most of us were fans of Marvel Superheroes and DC comics growing up and fantasized about what it would be like if we had the superpowers. Growing up, I used to enact portions of Superman movies after we returned from the theater, and still remember the thrill of the imaginary feeling to fly, and save the world from the evil villains. For a few fleeting moments, I was the Superman, and that feeling excites me even today. What if being a Superman has nothing to do with your birth on a different planet? And more importantly - what if you were actually Superman and did not know it? Or worse - what if you were Superman, but did not believe in yourself, or did not know how to engage those superpowers? That would indeed be a shame, wouldn’t it? It will undoubtedly be a shame for you. Nietzsche provided a blueprint to unleash this superpower.

"Behold, I teach you the overman. The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth! I beseech you, my brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes! Poison-mixers are they, whether they know it or not. Despisers of life are they, decaying and poisoned themselves, of whom the earth is weary: so let them go.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche believed that as the animals evolved from single-celled amoeba to humans, the evolution has not stopped at humans. In fact, Nietzsche was convinced that humans will eventually evolve into a super-species. He thought that this super-species is an evolved form of human being, called Ubermensch. The literal translation is Overman. Nietzsche thought that the majority of humans are closer to the apes than Ubermensch. Nietzsche concluded that no human could become a true Ubermensch at all times. Still, by engaging in an inner journey - some humans can reach Ubermensch status during their rapturous moments of suffering.  Nietzsche firmly believed that pain is the road towards achieving this super-species status. In his works, Nietzsche affirmed, “Man is something that can be overcome,” but to overcome this - man should accept suffering with open arms and walk on the rope over an abyss without succumbing to the fear.

Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman--a rope over an abyss...

What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under...

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche is a German philosopher from the 18th century. He is much-quoted and probably one of the greatest philosophers of his time. Unlike other philosophers, Nietzsche had many sides to him - he can be a comedian, musician, and most notably a provocateur. He is most known for quoting “God is Dead, and we have killed him” in his 1882 collection, The Gay Science. There is much religious discourse on this subject, and I will leave that out from this article as my focus is on the application of Nietzsche’s principles for business, and not get too deep on the religious discourse. 

Nietzsche introduces the three metamorphoses in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The stages of transformations are very similar to different stages of the human condition. The Camel symbolically represents the first stage. When you think of Camel, we immediately think of an animal that can carry high weights on it’s back and walk for 100s of miles in one of the worst conditions imaginable. Nietzsche believed that most humans live the life of Camel - they carry the societal norms of “thou shalt” and “thou shall not” on their backs and walk in the arid climate of suffering, desperation, pain, and suffering. Just like camels, they endure this and keep carrying this toxic waste until they die from exasperation walking in this desert of the human condition. We have all been here - we grew up believing in specific values, morals, and righteousness only to be questioned by the world, and eventually getting suffocated by these. At this time, we have two paths - we succumb to these meaningless norms, poisoned by bitterness, revenge, and despair, or decide to rise above these dragons and fight them head-on. Nietzsche symbolized that this new stage that evolves from the sulking, suffering, camel stage with the Lion. During this stage, the human decides to shake off the dragons of the society, and unload his burden, and decides to exert himself.  The Lion stage is critical for the transformation as humans need to fight the status quo as they realize the flaws in the world. The lion spirit does this by saying, “I will,” and that’s the whole of the law. According to Nietzsche, One needs to be a lion in spirit to defeat the doctrine of “Thou Shalt” and affirm the conditions of one’s flourishing.

Once the lion realizes that it no longer needs fighting the dragons, the lion eventually becomes comfortable with itself. The Lion decides that it does not need to fight to exert its influence on society. Once it comes to this realization, the final stage of transition starts - the child symbolizes this stage. Imagine our childhoods, where we were just content - we believed that we were the center of the universe; we did not worry about our family, society, or even the world. We just were comfortable in our skin - we laughed boisterously, cried frivolously, learned boundlessly, and, most importantly, created effortlessly. The true Overman always within us - all we need to tap into our inner child to realize this. Once we find our inner child, we will be able to forgive with ease, love with grace, and act with a sense of complete freedom. 

Although he explicitly denied that any Overmen or Supermen had yet arisen, he mentions several individuals who could serve as models. Among these models, he lists Socrates, Jesus, Julius Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Goethe, and Napoleon.

übermensch and Entrepreneurship

The most significant innovations of our times have been about breaking the social norms - Edison’s pursuit of electricity to change the status quo of kerosene lamps, or Ford’s pursuit of transforming the automobile industry to revolutionize the way we travel, Albert Einstein’s never-ending quest to find explanations to the secrets of the Universe that were attributed to the higher-power, and Steve Jobs’ focus on integrated human-device engagement to disrupt the entire technology stack of the 21st century. Each of these leaders had child-like creativity and audacity that can feel like craziness for society. Some people called Edison crazy for thinking that he can disrupt the centuries-old oil industry with his small lab. Ford declared several bankruptcies and fought against all forms of society to prove his vision. Einstein was called several slurs in his lifetime - for most of his life; he was ignored and not even acknowledged in his academic circles as his ideas were out of the ordinary. Steve Jobs was called a narcissist, and worse by his friends and family for his undying focus on his pursuits, and his unquestionable commitment to creativity.  Imagine if these greatest innovators succumbed to the society dragons and accepted status quo - we would probably still be using kerosene lamps, riding horse buggies, believing that earth was flat, and carrying multiple devices with us at all times.

According to Nietzsche, - becoming ubermensch is quite simple. His recipe is to believe in yourself and stop worrying about the world. The status quo will always resist change, the society will always call you crazy, some might even label you a narcissist, and a few might call you naive for coming up with radical ideas. Ignore them and keep on innovating, just like a child.

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.

Friedrich Nietzsche

P.S - this is the third article in the Philosophy and Entrepreneurship series. Here are the links to the previous articles

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/cogito-ergo-sum-kiran-kodithala/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/philosophy-entrepreneurship-kiran-kodithala/