Carving the Path to Barrierless Success | The Teachings of Friedrich Nietzsche Explained

One would like to say they have somewhat of a clear idea about what they want to do in their life. They have a vision of what they would like their upcoming years to look like, and they would do what they can so it can become a reality. Research by the JAMA Psychiatry Group has shown that 75% of Americans do not have a clear sense of meaning, which surprised me. How does one wake up not knowing their purpose? What drives them to reach their maximum potential?

Historic philosophers have focused their teachings on accepting one's current state of mind, disregarding the unnecessary thoughts and feelings of the public yet accepting critisism at key times. Socrates focused his time on understanding one's true self. Seneca used his stoic reasoning to control his reaction to unfortunate events. An outlier to this common trend however is German essayist Friedrich Nietzsche. He also focused his work on understanding one's self and ability. Yet the difference was that he blocked out all the cultural standards and societal norms at the time, from Christianity to alcohol, because he believed they had one profound impact on his life: loss of freedom.

Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Let's dive into this in a bit more detail, starting off with Christianity.

Nietzsche disliked Christianity because it protected its followers from their envious thoughts. In his work he heavily believed that the feeling of envy can be used as a tool for self-motivation, yet problem with this is that Christians look down upon those who have jealous and envious feelings.

Nietzsche explains how envy is what Christians could use as an excuse to dismiss their lack of success. He defined the term Slave Morality as using religious doctrines as an excuse for one's unaccomplished lifestyle. He explained it as one vilifying the oppression they face, how they ignore "what is outside, what is different, what is not itself". The restrictions Christianity enforces persuades its followers to ignore the aspects of life that a successful person would strive for and to praise the quality of life that they themselves are living. Weakness became humbleness. Successfulness becomes egotistical. Nietzsche belived that Christians were "masked by faith in another or better life".

Nietzsche's views on this matter is something I strongly disagree with. I say this because I don't believe he truly understands the meaning of a Christian way of life.

Here is a quote from the gospel Matthew in the Bible (Matthew 6:20):

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal;

Nietzsche's beliefs revolve around optimizing oneself to achieve the treasures of humanity. Christians have the same goals that the successful have: they strive for total independence, they choose unconventional paths, they grow from failure, etc. The difference is that one with Nietzsche's perspective would do anything to get this power while Christians wouldn't. He states how men with great power will need to hurt people in the name of great things. The goal of Christianity is to try to imitate the values that Jesus Christ had and stood for as much as we can. Christians strive to succeed, yet they know that the purpose of life is to try to enter into the Kingdom of God, and they would not dismiss His teachings to get there. They would not criticize their enemies to accomplish our goals because that is something Christ would not do. They would not boast their qualities to gain power because that is something Christ would not do. Where Nietzsche lacked insight was that he believed that the priorety of Christians was to succeed on earth, but in reality, it is to do what they can to receive everlasting life in heaven.

In Matthew 22:21, Jesus is questioned by the Roman authorities on the matter of if one should pay taxes to the Roman emperor Caesar. He responds saying "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's", translating to one should not abandon or ignore the values and rules that the human race has set for itself, yet the word of God is a Christian's top priority, and they should not compromise their faith under any circumstance. Christians can try to strive for success yet they wouldn’t go against their religious values in the process. They understand that if their belief gets in the way of accomplishing their goals, then this is a boundary they must accept. This is what Nietzsche could not comprehend. He was determined to employ all his effort into maximizing his potential (to become an übermensch as he called it), disregarding any type of restriction, in order to receive one specific thing in return: purpose.

Nietzsche stresses how fulfillment in life is a result of finding purpose. He states that "to forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity". Embry-Riddle University profesor Alan Pratt describes nihilism as living a purposeless life. The only purpose of a nihilist is to ensure they have no loyalties and to pursue pessimism and loneliness. Nihilists do not place weight on any one belief because they find it limits their freedom to do what they want.

So if you are a nihilist, how do you find purpose? Without any sense of belonging, what do you strive for?

That's a question that hasn't been definitely answered. How do you know what to do in life if you are intentionally excluding all its qualities? Two hundred thousand years ago, a homo sapien's sole purpose was survival. The thought of a life after death never occured in one of their underdeveloped brains, so they continued to do what they do best: survive. A Christian's purpose is to mimic the life of Jesus Christ. This is done increase their chances into being accepted into heaven. But what about a nihilist? What makes them want to strive for fulfillment?

Nihilism is in itself an intentional way of thinking because it in itself follows tenets - to reject the established order and religious principles. Nihilists want to maximize their potential, they want to become an übermensch. That is their purpose. And to accomplish this, they have intentionally withheld themselves from having loyalties to any set of beliefs or rules. Purposely living with this uninvolved, purposeless lifestyle is done to achieve their own purpose: barrierless success.

Nietzsche questioned how if one to were to become one with their inner übermensch, how would the value of their life change? Are all lives equal or are some lesser?

The doctrine of equality! There exists no more poisonous poison; - Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche didn't believe in equality because he didn't believe it actually existed. Social hierarchies were always present no matter what people of power proclaimed. He writes in his book The Gay Science:

What they sing – "equal rights", "free society", "no more masters and no more servants" – has no allure for us. We hold it absolutely undesirable that a realm of justice and concord should be established on earth. 

His views were heavily criticized by all classes of society, from authoritarians (who at the time were primarily high members of the Judeo-Christian councils) to beggars. He never got the confirmation he wanted on this matter and this question of equality still remains up for debate. I have given it some thought and I believe I have reached a succinct enough answer. Here it is:

My reasoning started off by asking myself where do I demonstrate power and authority, which lead me to this question: if you had one minute, ignoring difference in population size, would you rather kill an ant or a cow? If this was a situation one were to be in, they would obviously kill the ant. But why? Under the pressure of time, I would not be thinking of the pros and cons that each organism brings me, be it a cow's dairy production or an ants key position in the food chain. But why would I have such a natural instinct to kill the ant? It is easier to kill something we have greater power over. The ant's death would be instantaneous, just a quick stomp of a foot, while a cow would put up a resistance. Let's take another example: would you rather kill a man that is healthy or a man in a coma? The majority would say the man in a coma. Why? Because we have greater power over this helpless man. The implication of this is that the powerless are used as a stepping stool for those with power's actions. This is how current society functions. Helping the homeless can be used as a tool to help demonstrate to the public the care the powerful have. The powerful can use the ignorant as trojan horses for their agenda. The point I am making here is the powerless are a necessity to the powerful. Without them, those with authority would have no tools to demonstrate their power over. Because of this, though the quality of life of the lower class is poor, their value and role they play is incredibly valuable.

So that's Friedrich Nietzsche! There is a great deal more of information about this German philosopher that I have not even touched upon, and this article has just scraped the surface of all of his teachings. I disagree with many of his views, yet some of them have allowed me to gain perspective on different aspects of the world that I have never realized!

If you like these articles, stay tuned because over the next few months I'll be publishing a bunch more about a variety of philosophers. Until then, stay smart!

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