One of my favorite writer of all time whose work I still don't understand at all is Friedich Nietzsche. I bought one of his book, "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (Zarathustra, as in metophor to the the great Persian philosopher 3000 years ago, Zarathustra who I believe was the the person that came up with the original concept of monothiasm) four years ago. Yet till this day, I get more and more confused each time I read it and try to comprehend what he is saying (And it doesn't help that the germen to English translation was horrible and that Nietzche wrote this book just before in went insane). Buy anyways, back to my point. Eventhough apparently I am not smart enough to understand his work. A few of his interesting quotations still linger in my head even today. And of course, as usual, I went off tangent and came up with my own unique and interpretation about his definition of things.
"Beyond good and evil." My favorite. Well, if you know me well enough as a person, you will undoubtly wonder why I always want to and have the tendency to cheer for the bad guys (Cheering for the Celtics in the late 80 when living in LA, playing Lord Bane in that whatchumaycall it video game back in the 90s). Well. The reason is so simple. As a person, I just don't think the concept "Good" and "Evil" exist in this world. My world is grey and dynamic, and that is why it is so fun. Bismark/Mao may not be all evil. Churchill, Kennedy may not be all hero. History is always written by the winners, but still if I had to choose between Good and Evil. I'd pick the latter. Because at least I feel that is real :)
US war on terror and spreading the devine concept of American Democracy. Good? I doubt it. But phony for sure.
War to gain control in the Middle East, setting up puppet regimes and control the oil in the region to benifit US--Evil? Yes, but hey, at least it is real, and I like it. and I would stand behind this reason whole heartedly... As Milton says "the law from Lion to Ox is...Oppression". And that, is just nature.
Apply this on my personal level. If I beleive the concept that I just wrote. Woudn't you think that I'd rather be a selfish evil jackass than a phony goodie two shoe gentleman. I am learning it gradually aren't I? And definitely let me know if I am lacking behind in my progress.
Re: Beyond Good and Evil
ReplyDeleteIn this world, translations are never perfect. I think of the movie title: Lost in Translation. (Have you seen it?) The concept, the meaning, etc. just gets lost in translation. I am glad that you are trying to interpret for yourself and get some ideas off it.
With this good and evil bit...I know you read Angels and Demons. In there, they spoke of nature and how there's always an opposite. Anti-matter and matter. So, I believe that in everything there must be an opposite whether good and evil is one, I can't be sure. I mean what constitutes good and what of evil? But if this occurence happens in nature then, I believe that it goes for us as well.
I have more thoughts on this, but I am at work and should be getting back to it. Let me borrow some books and I will try to be a good discussion partner...
a true miscontent, find yourself a woman.
ReplyDeleteit's all about relativity, with no point of reference, we know absolutely nothing.
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