It was 5:45 pm on a Sunday evening when I started taking life advice from a ginger youtuber in glasses and a hat. Actually, that's incorrect. This youtuber was simply a translator. More accurately, I was taking advice from a dead madman. The name: Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, doubter, and pessimist. But for someone who has been somewhat considered to condone Nazis and at one point he was unable to take of himself due to his illness (insanity?) he makes sense. The concept he figured best for humans was to follow instinct. He saw us moderns as too comfortable, and too willing to settle for that comfort. By following instinct, we would be growing, pushing past that comfort level we all hold oh so close to our hearts, and pushing ourselves one step at a time forwards toward greatness.
My friend was worse than I about paying attention during philosophy class, but suddenly we were both drawn in, as we had to be, with finals approaching. She watched a video online of some guy driving around in a car discussing Nietzsche's philosophy, and how he believed Socrates to be a sick human, and basically completely wrong. Wow right? Maybe the reason not many people disagree with Socrates is because so few take the time to learn about him, but even so, I wouldn't be surprised to find few people with a big enough head to think their theories rival, if not triumph, that of Socrates. Needless to say, it sparked my interest. And so I went and watched the video, and it made sense to me. It's natural for us to follow our instincts, hence them being our instincts.
My feelings were confirmed when after class that very day: my friend had been bugging me about talking to this guy and I, finding my shy side, could not bring myself to do it. It was our last class of the semester, out walked my friend; I was close behind, with no reason to stay any longer. However, I stopped right outside the door by my friend who stopped walking, turned around and trying to shove me back in, body slams me into wall right next to the door. My friend then runs down the hall into the bathroom. With my luck, there was tour going on right outside our door at that moment, all of whom watched me get body slammed by my best friend into the wall then take off. I glanced over with an apologetic smile at the door guide, and sped walked away from the situation, down the hall and towards the exit. I stepped outside, and watched the guy I wanted to talk to pass by a few seconds later, alone. I could easily step inside and talk to him, not even ask him to hangout or anything too radical, just talk. I felt the timing, it was ideal, and perfect.
I chose not to follow my instincts, and five minutes later found myself filled with regret. Nietzsche also points out the more we follow our instincts, the stronger they grow. I found this interesting as it parallels Socrates idea of repetition in cultivated the soul. The reality of both being that we need to repeat the same way of living in order to grow and better ourselves, and create a better way of living for ourselves.
After this moment of regret, specifically of not asking this guy in my philosophy class out, I decided to start trying to follow my instincts, when I recognized them. It's a commitment, and one following a somewhat odd pattern. For example, it led me to stop writing on my politics final sooner than I would've, I didn't overdo it. It has also led me to give up Instagram for a week (like I said, a bit of a commitment), as well as text that guy to hang out.
It's a different type of self improvement; it's not exercising everyday, or only eating green. It's listening to yourself, as your body tells you what you need to do.
J
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWPGr0_cPZM
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