Re: Intelligence in a Box (was Re: Nietzsche (transhumanist philosopher))

From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Fri Sep 01 2000 - 11:19:41 MDT


I wonder why you are concerned with Deiicide(sp) and how it relates to modern
life? If the concept of God is gone from humanity, do you expect that the
people who believe will not take up some other nonsense? Will you be safer
from the missionaries, will sociry be more sensible and humane? Are you
rebelling against Jesus, Jerry Fallwell, the Buddha, Pagans, whom? All? Just
curious. Because I wonder where the payoff is?

In a message dated 9/1/00 9:55:28 AM Pacific Daylight Time, fm1@amug.org
writes:

<< To me, the essence of Nietzsche is that he was a destroyer
 of the boxes within which people are intelligent.
 
 In his attempt to destroy religious boxes, he said "God is dead!"
 and got his message onto the cover of Time magazine.
 
 Many religious people are highly intelligent... within their
 religious boxes.
 
 Max Stirner ('The Ego and its Own') was, in my opinion, a
 more penetrating box-destroyer than Nietzsche. He essentially
 said, "You need to go beyond killing God, you need to destroy
 the very notion of "god" (so-called), the very idea of "god"; the
 word "god" needs to become no more than a nonsense-noise
 to you."
 
 Nietzsche also attempted to destroy political boxes:
 "There are still peoples and herds somewhere, but not with us,
 my brothers: here there are states.
 The state? What is that? Well then! Now open your ears, for
 now I shall speak to you of the death of peoples.
 The state is the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly it lies, too;
 and this lie creeps from its mouth; 'I, the state, am the people.'
 It is a lie! It was creators who created peoples and hung a faith
 and a love over them: thus they served life.
 It is destroyers who set snares for many and call it the state:
 they hang a sword and a hundred desires over them.
 Where a people still exists, there the people do not understand
 the state and hate it as the evil eye and sin against custom and
 law.
 I offer you this sign: every people speaks its own language of
 good and evil: its neighbor does not understand this language.
 It invented this language for itself in custom and law.
 But the state lies in all languages of good and evil; and whatever
 it says, it lies -- and whatever it has, it has stolen.
 Everything about it is false; it bites with stolen teeth. Even its
 belly is false.
 Confusion of the language of good and evil; I offer you this sign
 of the state. Truly, this sign indicates the will to death! Truly,
 it beckons to the preachers of death!
 Many too many are born: the state was invented for the
 superfluous!
 Just see how it lures them, the many-too-many! How it devours
 them, and chews them, and re-chews them!
 ...It would like to range heroes and honorable men about it, this
 new idol! It likes to sun itself in the sunshine of good consciences
 -- this cold monster!
 It will give you everything if you worship it, this new idol: thus it
 buys for itself the luster of your virtues and the glance of your
 proud eyes.
 It wants to use you to lure the many-too-many. Yes, a cunning
 device of Hell has here been devised, a horse of death jingling
 with the trappings of divine honors!
 Yes, a death for many has here been devised that glorifies itself
 as life: truly a heart-felt service to all preachers of death!
 I call it the state where everyone, good and bad, is a poison-drinker:
 the state where everyone, good and bad, loses himself: the state
 where universal slow suicide is called -- life." [emphasis added]
>>



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