Monday, December 13, 2010

Born Too Soon : #4 - Friedrich Nietzsche

Today we feature the philosophical father of /b/, Friedrich Nietzsche. Born in 1844, he exhibited all the precociousness (professor at 24), syphilis, insanity and early death that we've come to expect in this series.

Nietzsche was the master of the aphorism: short, punchy, provocative statements that  "philosophize with a hammer". Nietzsche's works are like motivationals, the philosoraptor meme and troll posts all rolled into one.

"...my ambition is to say in ten sentences what everyone else says in a book
-- what everyone else does not say in a book."

Nietzsche espoused a Dionysian morality: the irrational, life-affirming, yes-saying morality of Homeric heroes. He opposed the Apollonian, rational, life-denying, no-saying, slave-morality of Plato and Christianity.


As befits a "random" board, /b/ is firmly Dionysian: wealth, strength, health and power are "good", the poor, weak, sick and pathetic are "evil". The gravest sin on /b/ is to act as a moralfag. Recurring obsessions with Nazis, blacks, women and cp all fit the Dionysian pattern.

TL;DR: here's a random selection from Nietzche's troll posts:
  • Women are considered profound. Why? Because we never fathom their depths. But women aren't even shallow.
  • A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
  • The last Christian died on the cross.
  • "Faith" means not wanting to know what is true.
  • The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies, but also to hate his friends.
  • Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions.
  • He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.
  • Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.
  • What does not destroy me, makes me stronger. 

    We end with a rebuttal from Nietzsche's most implacable foe:

    37 comments:

    1. Haha, funny way to describe the life of a great human being!

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    2. awesome perspective on Nietzsche! It would be awesome to grow a mustache like him :D

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    3. ive heard many great things about this young fellow.

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    4. Fantastic post, I'm a huge Nietzsche reader and fan. This is definitely my favorite blog now.

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    5. good post. never really studied nietzsche but ive heard many things

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    6. anyone who opposes religion is fine by me =D

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    7. The delusions of one is considered insanity. The delusions of many is considered religion

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    8. I love Nietzsche. I'm honestly glad he isn't still around, though. His wisdom would be drowned out by the stupidity and bullshit of today's world. Do you think his writings would take front page over the picking of new judges on American Idol? Sadly, I do not.

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    9. lol this is why I keep coming back to this blog...

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    10. hey man great people have had syphilis its almost like it brings insanity andddd creativity lol

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    11. Oh yes, Nietzsche. One of the rarities that actually kept my interest in my humanities classes that I had to take as GE. Good stuff.

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    12. you have my approve Nietzsche a man that can make revolution

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    13. Well, I've never heard of him before, but you've aroused my interest. Seems like a pretty funny dude.

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    14. 19th century must have sucked if you could get famous by trolling.

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    15. i got to admit this, his perspective is different from other normal human

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    16. I enjoyed this post! I adore Nietzsche and his works.

      >the philosoraptor meme and troll posts all rolled into one.

      I lol'd. That's a pretty accurate way of summing him up.

      I agree with the Angry Vegetarian's comment. To this day he is a sadly overlooked and misjudged philosopher. Back in his time he copped a lot of shit from his peers, and if he lived longer he would've sadly received the same treatment.

      Amor fati!

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    17. On The Genealogy of Morality always brings a smile to my face. I tried using Nietzsche as an excuse for me to be all SUPERMAN and sex up every woman I encountered....but my girlfriend said no dice. Cock blocked by her slave-morality =/

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    18. fantastic post man. I love Nietzsche.

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    19. haha this was a great post, i loved some of his theories and his 'troll posts'

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    20. /b/orn too soon? i think you may be behind /b/ :)

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    21. i got most of what's written but what's /b/?

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    22. @ invagrantly - I sincerely hope you never find out.

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    23. nice post;) i like it
      supportin & following!

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    24. thanks for another great post. this kindled my interest in nietzsche.

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    25. Nietzche, one of my favorite German :)

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    26. also guys, and Sucio....mentioning the b thingy is SO NOT A GOOD IDEA... thats what I've heard anyway...

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    27. Nietzsche is right for at least one thing:
      "Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen."

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    28. what a difficult name :(

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    29. <The last christian died on the cross... Hahaha, nice

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    30. Interesting analysis of ideals that seem similar to anarchy.

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    31. Well I just came to class and got a free lesson as I had never heard of him.. Muchas Gracias Senor Sanchez!!!

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