You may know what to be free FROM. But what will you be free FOR?
The importance of a meaningful direction feat. Nietzsche and N-Sync.
Previously, on I Am Not A Product:
The Oracle of the Mall revealed 10 prompts as antidotes to Optimaddiction and an Achievement Society. Nick Cave’s Mum dropped the ‘f-bomb’.
“Free, dost thou call thyself? Thy ruling thought would I hear of, and not that thou hast escaped from a yoke. Art thou one ENTITLED to escape from a yoke? Many a one hath cast away his final worth when he hath cast away his servitude. Free from what? What doth that matter to Zarathustra! Clearly, however, shall thine eye show unto me: free FOR WHAT?”
- Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche (1883)
Prompt 1: Describe not what you’re free from, but what you’re free for.
To keep things light as we dive into the 10 prompts, let’s begin with Nietzsche and his views on freedom.
A caveat about Nietzsche: he was brilliant, apparently very polite, and maintained a magnificent mustache. He was also a contradictory and complicated character. His ideas changed radically over time, and interpretations of his writings vary widely; some say he promoted Nazism and anti-semitism, while others that he supported the pursuit of truth.
Please note this post is not an academic critique of his ideas but uses them as a launching pad. I encourage you to read more and make up your mind. Som Dutt and Nietzsche’s Philosophy is a great place to start.
There’s a lot to unpack in the paragraph above from Zarathustra. As related to Optimaddiction, it presents two important questions we need to answer:
- Can you define what you are free FOR?
- What does it mean when you commit to making it real?
Let’s look at defining what you are free FOR.
Down with this sort of thing!
Today’s performative digital culture falls into the trap of opposing what’s now without a viable solution for what’s next.
Placard-waving digital opposition to hyper-individualism, capitalism, neo-liberalism, or any other -ism risks little and requires no genuine commitment. As this piece by students at Queen’s University stated, “the feeling of having done something substantial by clicking a button can lead to complacency, preventing people from taking tangible actions that make more significant differences.”
Think hashtag activism, anything by Gal Gadot — great for the Likes, not so great for real change.
This objection to the status quo can be described as knowing ‘what we want to be free FROM’.
However, as my good friend, the Irish psychologist Owen Fitzpatrick, once said to me between Jagerbombs in a Dublin niteclub, “You must run toward something, not away from something”.
At the time, I thought he meant a kebab. It turned out to be more profound.
Knowing what you want freedom from is the easy part — it’s simple to say what you don’t like. But criticism alone of the old world order is not enough, for you will remain where you are. Nietzsche suggests true freedom involves not just the absence of constraints but also the presence of a destination. You must be willing to move toward or think beyond societal expectations, and create your path unconstrained by conformity.
This requires defining what you are free for. What will your freedom be?
“We wanna be free! We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna be free to ride…to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man! ”
- Peter Fonda, The Wild Angels
Some call this a purpose or a vision. Personally, I find those words so loaded with corporate and self-help baggage as to be unhelpful.
A Non-Negotiable Truth
Instead, Nietzsche talks about defining a ‘non-negotiable truth’; a foundational belief or personal doctrine that shapes your decision-making.
This is challenging in today’s world. Byung-Chul Han argues that information is destroying non-negotiable truths — think ‘fake news’, ‘alternative facts’, etc. The 2016 word of the year was ‘post-truth’. The erosion of truth, and by extension, trust, is a massive issue at a societal level. It is, however, more manageable at a personal level, so long as that truth is well articulated and carries with it a deep personal conviction.
The French philosopher and activist Simone Weil was an example of someone who defined a non-negotiable truth at an early age. She believed in a compassion-based morality that transcended individual interest and she lived it passionately. Rather than just write about workers, she worked in a factory for months to understand the experience. She effectively died of starvation in hospital after refusing to eat more than the rations given to French soldiers in World War II.
Nietzsche also cites artists, actors, and sculptors as those who find these truths by not conforming (strangely, Ed Sheeran is not on this list). They generate their own morality, values, and conventions, and they often experience contempt, controversy, and isolation from the mainstream (again, no Ed Sheeran. Weird.)
“But these people are exceptions!”, I hear someone cry on X formerly known as Twitter. “Geniuses! Saints!”
Perhaps. Or perhaps they stand out precisely because they are a minority, a small group of people who said a polite ‘fuck you’ to conformity and lived a life of their own making? Perhaps that’s why we remember them.
“Why stand on convention? It never stood on me.”
— Mike, The Young Ones
Other less pleasant examples of those who create non-negotiable truths are autocrats and dictators. They create a truth for themselves then bend the world around it and impose it on others. In no way am I suggesting this is a direction we should aspire to, but it’s an example of the potential impact achieved by commitment to this principle.
However, where dictators stumble in the pure application of this idea, is by escalating a ‘non-negotiable truth’ into narcissism, hyper-individualism, and stubborn intransigence to other points of view.
Optimaddicts are famous for this. Intolerance, finger-wagging, virtue signaling — often perpetuated by ‘purpose-driven’ people trying to sell you a course on diversity and inclusion.
To live outside of Achievement Society requires us to hold non-conformist beliefs and still function as a cooperative social animal. Nietzsche believed in the idea of the ‘collective-individual’ and mutual respect. German sociologist Helmut Rosa talks about finding a resonant way of being in the world. What you are free for must return to the theme of balance — how to enjoy healthy, shared, yet independent, participation in the world.
Commitment Issues
This brings us to question two and the middle of Zarthustra’s quote and on which hangs the successful charting of a new path:
“Art thou one ENTITLED to escape from a yoke? Many a one hath cast away his final worth when he hath cast away his servitude…”
We may define what we want to be free for. But what are the consequences for your identity of doing so? How will you live in society, and as whom, in this new freedom?
People often define themselves by what they are in opposition to, than by what they are supportive of, because, as mentioned above, it is easier to do so. Consider American politics — many Republicans define their identity to mean simply ’not a Democrat’ and many Democrats vice versa. But if the idea of Republicans or Democrats were to disappear and not be replaced, what then? What would be their system of belief?
Nietzsche suggests that constraints (the yoke) have value. A belief system is a constraint. Casting away all constraints without finding a meaningful direction might lead to a loss of what makes one valuable or unique.
The loss of your known identity without any replacement is one reason why, even once you have determined what you are free FOR, you must decide how you will commit to following through. Half-measures can leave you in limbo, possibly worse off than before.
Think of Justin Timberlake leaving N-Sync — without Timbaland and Pharrell’s production providing a meaningful sonic direction, it could’ve been disastrous. He could’ve become Joe Jonas. Fortunately, he didn’t, and we can now enjoy ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ and ‘Filthy’ ad infinitum.
There will, of course, be doubt and uncertainty as part of this process. As Richard Rohr says, “Before the truth sets you free, it tends to make you miserable.”
However, Nietzsche argued that “He, who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how.” (Just in case you thought Simon Sinek and his circles of inflated speaker fees originated this idea.)
(Note: for brevity’s sake, this post doesn’t go into the specifics of ‘how’ to realise your non-negotiable truth. Instead, I encourage you to read this article from Nietzsche’s Philosophy which provides useful guidelines.)
A non-negotiable truth is a powerful motivator. Think again of Simone Weil, dying in a hospital bed. If fully committed to a non-negotiable truth, you will tolerate whatever is required to bring it to life.
I acknowledge that this is far easier said than done. Dying for a cause is an extreme act and has the potential to really mess up other areas of your life.
“Just do what it takes” also has Achievement Society written all over it. The voice of Optimaddiction will say you must do something extreme, something that pushes the boundaries, something that makes you more of a ‘winner’…and ideally, something that plays well on TikTok #brave #vulnerable #yolo
Please don’t fall for this.
Resist the urge for comparison that is a feature of Achievement Society. Simone Weil had her rules, you will have yours. Bravery comes in different forms — for some, it’s a make-up-free Instagram selfie; for others, it’s a make-up-on Instagram selfie. I have a good friend for whom, right now, it’s simply getting up each morning to face the world.
Only you can decide what bravery means in the context of your life. Only you can decide on a meaningful direction, an attainable future identity, and the ‘how’ you can bear to get there.
If you’re establishing your ‘non-negotiable truth’, let the first non-negotiable point be that you alone will make that decision.
It is the first of many small steps towards breaking the shackles of Optimaddiction and gaining independence from Achievement Society. Right now, this freedom may only make sense to you, and that’s just fine. Stick with it, regardless of what others think.
For as Nietzsche remarked one morning while oiling his mustache: “Those who were seen dancing, were thought to be insane by those who could not hear Justin Timberlake…I mean, the music.”
Enter the prompt below into ChatGPT and it will provide starter questions and inspiration for your exploration of freedom:
“Imagine yourself free, but not what you are free FROM, what are you free FOR? Describe what you want to create or do that goes against the norm.”
Next time on IANAP…we look at Prompt 2, and how to assess a ‘non-negotiable truth’ and a life that’s free from conventional measures of speed, productivity, and growth — without using Microsoft Excel.
