Does all knowledge exist in the mind?
Can all knowledge be made intelligible?
To be beautiful does something has to be intelligible?
This is the claim of some philosophers.
If what these philosophers say is true it means the following formula is true:
Knowledge = Intelligible = Beauty
Socrates said that beauty is a form of knowledge.
Socrates went on to say that knowledge is a virtue.
Socrates concluded that for something to be beautiful, it must be intelligible.
Nietzsche didn't agree with this view.
He asked how we explain something like music?
Most people think music is beautiful.
However it's not intelligible like many other art forms are.
Music isn't understood intellectually.
But it is felt in the body.
Music triggers the instincts, drives, and senses.
It engages the whole body.
We express it in its most ancient way by dancing and expressing what we feel.
You can feel the beauty of music long before you can articulate it.
So if beauty is indeed a type of knowledge.
And music is beautiful.
Then maybe all knowledge isn't intelligible?
Maybe there is a type of knowledge that is more abstract?
Maybe the knowledge is more instinctive?
This is what Nietzsche thought about this type of knowledge:
He believed that our instincts, drives and passions are forms of knowledge that are built into our body.
Think about how many millions of people lived before you.
The people that lived before you made up a story that brought you here.
Millions of humans lived and came together that lead to you being alive right now.
This is a massive form of accumulated knowledge that is in your body.
In your genes.
Your are a massive information vault or library.
Your instincts are like a fire that burns inside you.
Fire has the potential to be powerful and destructive.
But it also has the potential to be a creative force.
It has the potential to uplift,comfort and create.
A well-controlled flame is a flame that burns slowly and passionately.
Think about lighting a candle.
That candle flame starts small and then burns slowly but brightly.
Then after a short while it enlightens an entire room with its beautiful light.
Of course, our passions can lead to violent and dangerous impulses.
Fire has the capacity to burn and get out of control.
And because of this potential to burn many cultures demonize our passions and call them “dangerous”.
We are told to suppress our inner fires and desires.
We are told to overcome our flesh and passions with the mind.
Nietzsche had strong views about this suppression.
He viewed it as an attack on life itself.
Our passions ,instincts and drives is what gives us the feeling of being alive.
When we suppress these drives darkness comes.
We deny life itself.
We create a gap between our bodies and minds.
Our body becomes a war-zone.
The body and mind starts fighting each other.
The mind then becomes a tyrant.
And we get turned into slaves in our own bodies.
Nietzsche believed we should let this fire burn brightly.
But we have to learn to harness and control it.
We must let our instincts, intuition and intellect work in harmony together.
Our instincts carry wisdom of who and what we are supposed to be.
Our mind can help this destiny.
It helps it by expressing itself in a controlled and productive way.
When you allow you instincts and intellect to become one it leads to harmony.
You become complete.
Then you live an authentic life.
And then you become who you were meant to be.
But why does Nietzsche think we should harness our instinctive knowledge?
He realized something very important.
Something that the modern world has forgotten.
He realized that we live in a world of imperfect knowledge.
He thinks we should stop pretending that we know everything.
We should stop pretending that we know truth , good and evil.
When we come into the world we can't be certain of anything.
The only thing that you can be certain of is that you are here existing in this world.
You are in the moment feeling, thinking and doing things.
You are born with instincts and drives.
And on top of that you have the capacity to build a rational structure around these drives and instincts.
So why should we doubt our own instincts?
Why should we reject the innate knowledge that has been gifted to us?
Is it possible that there is more intelligence contained in our natural drives than our rational minds?
In your genes (body) is a story containing knowledge that goes back to ancient times.
Knowledge that is waiting to be channeled through your instincts.
“I have discovered for myself that ancient humanity and animality, indeed the entire primal age and past of all sentient beings continues in me to create,to love, to hate, to infer”
-Nietzsche
It also contains stories and lessons from your ancestors and their cultures.
“The past of every form and way of life,of cultures that formerly lay right next to or on top of each other, now flow into us “modern souls”, our drives now run back everywhere,we ourselves are a kind of chaos. The traditions and “experiments” of past cultures live on within us.”
– Nietzsche
“With the individual who has to cultivate the historical sense and attained a sense of well-being of a tree for its roots,the happiness to know oneself in a manner not entirely arbitrary and accidental, but as someone who has grown out of a past, as an heir, flower, and fruit.”
– Nietzsche
As you can see around you most people have lost the connection to this ancient knowledge.
If you balance your thinking mind with your intuition and instincts you will see magic happen.
Nietzsche wants us to allow our natural instincts to burn like a fire.
But he wants us to harness them and give them a beautiful shape by using our intellectual capacity.
“Relying solely on the consciousness his weakest and most fallible organ. He stumbles blindly through life oblivious that in the recesses of his mind are archaic helpers which if he knew how to harness them could assist him in the many situations in life where consciousness fails.”
-Nietzsche
Can you shape your intellect into a balloon and use the flame of your passion to rise up into your full potential?
This act of self-creation allows us to reach our highest potential.
It allows us to give to the world what we uniquely have.
To achieve anything in the world is difficult.
To create anything of value is difficult .
It requires that we push ourselves beyond our current boundaries.
If we suppress our inner fire and make ourselves a battlefield between our mind and body then we suppress the energy that we will need in the future.
The energy to overcome obstacles that we will face on the way to reaching our highest potential.
And if we allow this suppression to happen we make way for mediocrity.
“It is a myth to believe that we will find our authentic self after we have left behind or forgotten one thing or another.To make ourselves we need to shape from various elements- that is the task. The task of a sculptor.Of a productive human being.”
– Nietzsche
You are the artist of your life.
Your life should be your art.
Become an artist.
Become who you are.
