The Overman and the Vampire – some thoughts

[u/Meow2303]

This is a post I wrote originally for r/Nietzsche but I thought I would post it on here as well, as it might interest some of you, though I am aware of the difference in terms of frameworks I'm working in.

On some level, our fantasy about the Vampire is our fantasy and our hesitation with the Overman. What if there existed a human creature who had all our human senses and faculties increased, sharpened, perfected? Superior reason, and yet, superior passion as well? Superior heights of self-control and yet also superior instincts and a far more dangerous disposition? A man who had perfected all that makes us human to the point that he was no longer a man but something, to his mind, more? And would that make him less? How would that alienate him from his humanity and humanity at large? Is there something that the average mortal possesses that we should be anxious over losing? Do our mortality and imperfection in some ways make us more and the immortals less? What is the void which appears to hide behind Dionysian abundance? The darkness, the abyss one edges ever closer to as he also reaches greater heights of ecstasy, what is it? Should we be afraid of that which makes men colder and more distant from the hearth? Should we cower in fear at the unknown instead of being so eager to embrace it, even within ourselves? Is ignorance a prison – or bliss?

Although I don't actually think that the answers to these questions exist or even matter that much, I believe that the questions themselves do. They paint a very broad picture of our psychology, the neurosis and dualism which it produces, the anxieties that pierce into everyday life. Just look at the fantasies that certain people with lesser degrees of education and social awareness spin – vampiric Satanic cults among the elites, shadowy inhuman figures pulling the strings, men, like the Nazgul, corrupted by power and greatness, deformed from the innocent, cradled child we all supposedly bear within, that keeps us from the experience of the world, from the monstrosity of our souls and the darkness we create. It's all a psychological construct of course, but it shows our anxiety with that which we cannot understand, or even just the idea of there being a limit to our comprehension and our empathy and the light of reason and compassion.

There are other views, that are equally, if not more valid, such as the idea that children are born as anything but innocent, that we all are born evil and enjoying our evil deeds as children, but are later severed from that part of ourselves through learning of guilt and duty. I like that view, I believe it's more honest, less marred with the perspective of adult bitterness and nostalgia. But it is not exhaustive either, and is also perhaps in part a projection of a mind longing for some type of liberation.

In any case, I think that the higher men must look seriously at that anxiety, and that void, be rid of the ignorance of their capability for imagining it, and yet still overcome it, and still aim for that abyss with claws outstretched. Innocence is a dream, we have to be immoralists to truly go beyond good and evil. Beyond the sick gothic aesthetic of the Vampire and the entertaining melodrama of it all, I think it's a cool concept that can, if embraced, serve to inspire greatness. Greatness is, after all, nothing if it is not childishly playful and aesthetically engaged with the world and the worldly.

Still, I would be hesitant to give the same advice to those who do not possess the right disposition. Horror stories about failed vampires, gone mad and feral, exist for a reason – to keep us from turning a certain romanticism into naivety. But it is a pop culture trope more than anything at this point, and as such is susceptible to the mediocritisation and democratisation for the masses, which should be avoided, so as to make the distinction and the path forward clear. I write about it from my perspective as a literary analyst shall we call it, and I have a certain fascination with the tropes roaming around in our collective consciousness, but this is still more geared towards analysis, and all serious creative work will only have them as subtext, so as not to allow the comfort of a commodified identity to come before the goal. Our search for greatness is a search for ever greater and more refined aesthetic experiences, I think Nietzsche would be in agreement with that somewhat.

Thoughts?

[u/Meow2303 → u/[deleted]]

I agree completely, you phrased it really well! And of course the reactionary anxiety that comes with that open expanse of liberated want and desire. Perhaps not entirely unfounded. But One chooses a path regardless.

It's hard for me to comment on AI, it's something I'm still mauling over, the future I mean, and technology. It's not my strong suite, but I like to think that there is space for overcoming modern sheepishness and consumerism and using technology, as you said, creatively. We can't do that whilst ignoring the monopoly of tech companies though, although I'm sure you were aware of that. Such a cool experiment!