The most important question ever asked
Nietzsche writes in Beyond God and Evil of the 'new philosophers' future atheists who will reject all metaphysical notions, commanders and lawgivers who will live outside the herd concept of morality and have the strength, the will to power, to create their own values.
These new philosophers will say yes to life, yes even to the idea of eternal return because their experiments, their values will justify all of human existence.
With such ideas Nietzsche allows us to ask an amazing question, perhaps the most important question ever asked. The question is this: what undertaking might these new philosophers fabricate for mankind? What non-metaphysical project might these new philosophers give to mankind?
Remember the project would have to be so grand it would retrospectively make the entire history of human suffering worth it.
To put it another way: What shall we do for the next 10,000 years?
Answers on a postcard.
Tags: Nietzsche, art, ethics, philosophy
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on -
Yes - figuring out how to establish a beachhead off-world really should be the goal of a truly advanced civilization.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
Or (and more likely, to my mind) a religion. In fact, they have a head start on us!
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Permalink Reply by Lee on -
I'm with you on that one- we seem to be investing a ridiculously small amount in self-preservation. Although there are, I think, much more immediate threats than the sun blowing up. Earth will be untenable far before the sun begins its steps toward becoming a red giant, most predictably because the temperature will continue to rise. Even more pressing - imagine this- what if that meteorite that blew up over Russia recently had instead hit Cuba in October of '62? Forget global warming- we'd already be in sixth decade of nuclear winter. We've had the power to completely wipe ourselves out for over half a century.
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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on
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Yes, and thus we must expand the Drake equation to include a factor representing the possibility of an intelligent species destroying itself before becoming an enlightened species - and if we are any example, it's easy to understand the failure of SETI.
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Permalink Reply by Gregg R Thomas on -
Hmmm...
and if we are any example, it's easy to understand the failure of SETI
I hadn't given it much thought, but now that I think of it from that perspective, that would explain it.
Here we are only one hundred years or so after our first radio transmission on the verge of making the planet unlivable.
You could be correct intelligent life doesn't last long enough not to screw things up.
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on -
I expect that there could be many 'unenlightened' species that muddle through, generation after generation, screwing up, then cleaning up, killing a few million of their own, then breding fast enough to replace them, getting off their rock, exploring their near by space, and screwing up again, always just one step ahead of suicide. Just might be why we do not hear from them, they are just one step ahead of the Grim Reaper. If they are corporate, will they institute 'corporate amnesia' every political season?
The Dinosaurs lasted about 120 million years, wow, and they never got off this rock, as far as we know.
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Permalink Reply by Judith van der Roos on -
Yes we need to establish a beachhead on another world, while leaving priest, capitalist and militarist on earth, maybe the telephone sanitisers as well :-) !
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Permalink Reply by James Cox on
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Sadly, we will need atleast a few 'people' to sanitize the showers, and toilets. We might need a few militarists just in case we find some 'bugs'.
I am not sure how happy people will be with just solving technical problems. I do like to break up my, sometimes busy day, with fufu. I think it might be nice to have a light, low gravity aerobic workout on Europa, I wonder how my puppies would fare?
Ballooning in the Jovian atmosphere might be a fun afternoon...
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Permalink Reply by Judith van der Roos on
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Oh what a wonderful thought, i wonder how my guide dog would fair in low gravity environment, and the cats would be amusing to watch !
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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I thought the most important question ever asked was one of these two:
Pepsi or Coke?
Apple or Android?
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on -
Pepsi or Coke?
Either is fine, Coke is preferred.
Apple or Android?
Android, because Google is less evil than Apple.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
You want evil, go Microsoft - nothing evil about Apple. I bought Apple at $13 a share, Apple been bery, bery good to me --
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