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 Gregg R Thomas on -
Hmmm....since self-centric is key to survival, should it be considered omnipresent in all species?
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Permalink Reply by Mat Waldie on -
yep so if we attempt to be impartial we instinctively cannot be. So motivations behind decision and discovery's are as important as the opinion, action, or discovery itself.
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on -
self-centric is key to survival
Is it? What about symbiotic relationships? like those birds who pick meat out of the teeth of crocodiles...
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
Hmm. I think a lot of us would see both creatures having a self-interest in that situation. You can't see that?
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on -
What shall we do for the next 10,000 years?
Produce an environmentally benign form of energy, on an extremely large scale, using plentiful fuels, and releasing no greenhouse gases.
That would solve the most pressing problem humanity is facing today: violent competition for increasingly scarce resources. These are primarily energy resources which are environmentally destructive to obtain and consume. Energy that is plentiful, cheap, universal, and benign would eliminate many of the world's major geopolitical squabbling points and allow humanity to refocus its resources on other goals, such as eradicating poverty, disease, and ignorance, and colonizing the solar system.
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Permalink Reply by Gregg R Thomas on
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Cheap energy is a nice idea but will that solve the human condition of greed?
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Permalink Reply by MikeLong on -
Exactly! I believe we have the technology today to feed and shelter all 7b of us.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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Do you really believe that if we fed and sheltered everyone we'd have a better world or would it just contribute to increasing the world population more quickly with the consequent accelerated destruction of the planet?
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Permalink Reply by MikeLong on
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You're mixing two problems. Over-population should, indeed, be addressed - but not by just letting millions starve.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on
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It's probably got to be plague or war, then. It's not like it's a very practical idea to take the birth control approach.
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Permalink Reply by Stutz on -
I sometimes wonder if such a form of energy is possible. Most things cease to be benign when scaled up to the level required to supply the needs of 7 billion humans. Build enough windmills and they will have a noticeable effect on wind and weather, I would imagine.
Renewables probably won't have nearly the drawbacks of fossil fuels, but still, it's interesting to speculate.
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Permalink Reply by Shark Bear on -
Pursue a course of discovery and explanation of the universe for the sheer hedonistic thrill of the process of doing so and the results we find. That is basically the reason I wake up in the morning.
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