Admittedly, I've never read any work by Nietzsche in full. Quotes, synopses, excerpts, analyses, but never a complete work. I probably should because whatever I have read, I've really enjoyed. In fact, I am also reminded of my own thoughts when I do, which is somewhat scary, and not because he was a secret Nazi (he wasn't), but because he went insane. Always a little eccentric, the story goes that he saw a man flogging a horse on the streets of Turin, Italy in 1889 and he ran to the animal, crying and throwing himself over its body to protect it. After this public breakdown and a series of strokes and other health ailments, he died in the summer of 1890. In that interim, his ability to communicate effectively with the outside world broke down to the point that it was incomprehensible.
This is not a piece of self-aggrandizement - I'm no Nietzsche. It's more of an inquiry into genius, insight, and madness in our own society.
Societally, how do we treat those who think differently? Do we lock them away? Medicate them? Let them run rampant? When I teach history, I like to ask these sorts of questions because it helps to shed light on what a culture was in a particular time. If you've ever see the movie Amadeus, the composer Salieri is placed in an asylum after slitting his own throat. He is incredibly lucid but the other patients (more aptly, inmates) seem to run the gamut from the psychotically deranged to the mentally retarded. This practice was not all that uncommon, even in the United States through the 1970s - children with severe learning disabilities or emotional disturbances were oftentimes shuttered away rather than being given an education suitable to their abilities (or even having their abilities, whatever they might have been, cultivated in some way to allow them the freedom to enjoy a life outside of a confined space). Luckily, with the advent of laws that protect the differently abled, many children are now afforded opportunities that most other "normal" children are given - to be around their peers, have access to enriching educational environments, participate in sports and clubs, etc.
In Art History class last night the professor was discussing Van Gogh. His life was, to put it bluntly, depressing as fuck (she didn't describe it in those terms, though that would have been ahh-mazing). She joked that if he had lived today he probably would not have produced his most famous works, like Starry Night, because he would have been so heavily medicated. In fact, art historians have noted that his signature style can be closely tracked with his departure off the deep end. And what if she is right? What if our current society's obsession with making sure people are on the right drugs to help them through the day, to "normalize" behaviors are actually killing off human creativity? Sure, Van Gogh lived a shitty life and died a horrible death, but at the same time, he became completely immersed in his work and has been immortalized through it. I don't believe in fate, but her comments made the wheels start turning - What if that sacrifice was a necessity for the progression of art? How would modern art be different without Van Gogh's contributions? What would be the impact on those that followed if his works had not been made to learn from and enjoy in its mere existence?
In France, ADHD isn't really a "thing" that kids have. It's just called being a kid. Parents there aren't as quick to medicate their children. Why? Is there something to be learned from struggling that we, as Americans, are afraid to do? Of course I see a lot of this at work - parents concerned about their child's grade when its not what they expected (an A). Their child never got lower than an A before, how could it be that they're not doing as well as they (re: the parent) had expected? That's something we all need to learn - how to be able to work within the parameters set to succeed. And those parameters are not always fair either - throw in institutionalized racism or sexism and a lot of people have to work doubly as hard to gain acceptance, let alone success. At times, that struggle will seem insurmountable; but then we also might really learn something about the system, ourselves, humanity, etc.
I see that desire to push humanity in Nietzsche as I do in myself. I can get pretty indignant about the apathy that most people express toward doing anything that would push them out of their comfort zone. In high school, one of my friends joked that if I kept up this pace of trying to right all of the world's wrongs, I'd eventually lose my mind. She prophesized I would be a babbling crazy person in the street (not too far off for Nietzsche, honestly). Well, I do actually think about that a lot because there sure are times where I know I can't run away to Montana, but if I continue on here, I will lose. my. shit. So what's a girl to do? There is not an easy answer. At least not one that I have come across yet.
Recently, I read a biography of another one of my favorite philosophers Albert Camus. His works are more literary that straight up philosophical treatises and he was criticized heavily for this throughout his life. Readers, including his own friends (like Sartre), expected a logical approach to a problem and got poetic imagery-laden text instead. In the rejection Camus faced, he never stopped addressing the whole. While others focused on the trees, he saw the forest. He internalized the quote from Nietzsche at the top - that we represent the bridge between what we came from and what we can be. Critical of both the French colonial forces AND the Algerian armed resistance movements, Camus refused to take sides, preferring to work with civilians on the ground who were stuck in between the cycle of violence perpetrated by both groups. Indeed, his commitment to a cause likely led to his demise as well, but he too left behind a legacy of ideas and actions for succeeding generations to consider.
In today's world of constant internet outrage, I can sympathize with Camus not wanting to take a side. It's easy to jump on the latest cause bandwagon and to vociferously state an opinion from the safety of your smartphone screen. But that's virtual. Sure, you support the cause by posting a meme, signing a petition, et. al, but what else will you do about it? It's a lot more difficult to walk outside and find someone who needs help. Especially when no one quite understands what you're doing (poor Nietzsche). I know I come off as a luddite many times, but there has to be a balance between how we can use technology to our advantage and what we rely on it for (no boredom, ever!!) Panem et circenses meet res ipsa loquitur - we're doing this shit to ourselves and it's only getting worse.
