On Nietzche’s Theory of Superman
Janpha Thadphoothon
Admittedly, bearing well in mind how meager my perception of his philosophies is, still, I could not resist my temptation and natural curiosity; thus, I came up with this story.
One may wonder who Nietzsche was?
Photo credit:
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/10/15/nietzsche-on-difficulty/
Friedrich (Wilhelm) Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, poet, and classical philologist, and one of the most provocative and influential thinkers of the 19th century.
Throughout mankind’s history the search for excellence has been our central theme; the Spartans of ancient Greek had cruel ways of selecting fittest generations for wars. By this I refer to the search for perfection of man; the dynamic bio-socio-techno evolved specie --- from homo sapient to homotech excellentia (my term, by the way), which can create countless possibilities in terms of mankind development.
We all have seen the Hollywood series of Superman or Spiderman, but were those too science fictionalised or ambitious to be taken seriously?
A lot of people who used to laugh and/or are laughing at his radical stance regarding the future of man may have to readjust their stances. At this point in time, Fewer and fewer people dare saying that this possibility is obsolete.
Back in the turn of the 20th century, very few people realized this possibility. However, with the advancement of cloning technology and genetic engineering plus artificial intelligence movements, and other frontiers of sciences, uncertainties have risen; things could be as he and his precedents have predicted.
Probably Marx and Hegel et al may be wrong in asserting that only through the raising of all humanity to a higher level in social life the liberation of all of humanity can lead to the formation of a new type of man. They were partly correct, nevertheless. Those who were in similar veils should embrace Vygotsky who used to write that Nietzsche’s wild imagination was erroneous had lost the opportunity to readjust his tenet or proposition.
According to Vygotsky (p. 183), Nietzsche posited that:
“ evolution did not exhausted its possibilities when it creates man and that the modern type of personality is not the highest achievement and the last word in the process of development…”
Nietzsche, therefore, arrived at the conclusion that:
“ A new creature can arise during the process of evolution, a superman, who will have the same relation to contemporary man, as contemporary man has to the ape.”
Even if his prediction was true, no one can guarantee that the first prototype of such being will communicate in English and how.
Up to this point, I should like to borrow Professor Andrew Lian’s bon mot: So what?
Well, nothing much, really, I am just wondering about the future of education in general.
One teacher I know, many years ago, used to feel upset when students did not pay attention to his lecture, and in addition to his lengthy explanation of why we students should study and why schools exist, he predicted that in the near future a technology or device which can enable us to down any information we need into our perception, including languages and mathematics.
I admire those computer nerds and absentminded cum die-hard scientists who are spending their time on this quest. I only wish they succeeded within my lifetime --- and theirs.
By jove, if it were going to take a hundred years or so, my contemporaries and I, frankly speaking, envy those who could live that long to be materialized. Have a nice day!
References
http://home.earthlink.net/~pdistan/howp_9.html Accessed 6/09/01.
http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txn/deathgod.htm. Accessed 6/09/01.
Vygotsky, Lev. “The Socialist Alteration of Man” in The Vygotsky Reader edited by Rene vander Veer and Jaan Valsiner (1998) Blackwell, Oxford.
