Essay Drop #3 - Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil Quotes (1)

Beyond Good and Evil - Quote 1

“Blessed are the forgetful; for they get over their stupidities, too.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Introduction

I thought it would be worth going over some quotes from Beyond Good and Evil that didn’t get talked about at length in the podcast (found here). Not everything fits into the time Jeff and I have for the WHAT The B@@K episodes and depending on the nature of the idea, there can be room to explore further after the podcast. I have been doing this for some of the quotes from Beyond Good and Evil that stuck out to me but weren’t discussed in depth. This is the first of them. Let’s dig it!

Friedrich Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil Quotes (Entry 135 P1)

As with any good philosophical statement worth digging into, this is a quote that—on the surface—seems to be foolish. What does he mean by “Blessed are the forgetful”? Is he saying that “ignorance is bliss” too? It’s worth wondering whether Nietzsche was aware of the phrase “ignorance is bliss”. The line comes from a poem a hundred years before Nietzsche was born by Thomas Gray.

We cannot ignore the relationship between these two phrases even though there are distinct differences between them. To be ignorant of something is to be blissful—happy without the knowledge of whatever might take that joy away. This is a proactive approach perpetrated by the person in question to save themselves from the headaches and weight of whatever it is they are ignoring. Then again, maybe this is more harmful than helpful, as ignoring things makes it hard to learn from experiences. Or does it?

Let’s explore these two paths in depth:

1. Forgetfulness, ignorance, and learning from experience

We all make mistakes. We have pasts, things we regret and seek to move on from. We also have histories, things we’ve learned from. How can we move on from something that weighs us down? From something that we think about every day? We eventually forget, but that can take a long time. This is why Nietzsche says those that forget and move on are blessed! These people can wipe the slate clean and start over. Maybe they internalized some aspects of the event and no longer recall where they internalized those aspects from, or maybe they learned nothing altogether, but at least they don’t have to deal with the stupidity of the past!

There is also the matter of wiping the slate clean when it comes to the mistakes of others, or ourselves for that matter. Forgetting how “stupid” someone behaved at a meeting or how “poorly” someone performed at some tasks can be beneficial. After all, everyone makes mistakes and everyone has their moments of brilliant stupidities. I have them on the weekly (the ones I know about at least) so it is foolish to be harsh on others who are equally flawed as I am.

To say, for instance, “Today was an off day. You can do better tomorrow” is far better than remembering the past. Make it history. Make it a learning experience. Teach something or learn something. “I know I messed up this action, and I should know better. I will not screw this step up again.” Internalize these optimistic concepts, and I say this as a pessimistic person! When encountering the situation again, you or your coworker may no longer find the stupidity presenting itself because you’ve moved on. You’ve left the stupid thing you did in the past, forgotten it, relinquished its hold over you, and conducted yourself appropriately.

To be forgetful in this way is to raise yourself, or others, up. To offer the second chances, the learning opportunities, and to become better without fixating on past failures, that is the goal. That should always be the goal. That is my core takeaway on what Nietzsche is saying here…

Blessed are the forgetful, for they can wipe the slate clean and starting anew!

2. Forgetting or becoming ignorant of things out of our control

People often find their insurmountable hill and do not cross it; maybe they don’t even go to the top. And what if they don’t know there’s a volcano waiting to erupt on the other side? Does it matter to them? Being ignorant of the proximity to something like that would keep the weight of fear off one’s shoulders. Why cross the crest of the hill if it’ll bring about the knowledge, the weight, of something like that!

But, maybe you don’t live near a volcano.

Imagine finding out you’re within one of the heavier radiation zones of a nuclear power plant—the zones that will kill you no matter what you do. The radius of such zones can be enormous, encapsulating millions. Simply knowing that you are within that zone can make you ponder your safety. It can become a distraction. “What about your family or children?” “Is it your duty to protect them from such a potential as a nuclear plant melting down?” “How long did you live there before you knew you were in peril if the plant malfunctions?” “Were you happy when you didn’t know?”

Now, you have questions that require answers. You might ask, “What can I do to protect against exposure to radiation?” “Do I need a bunker to protect from a nuclear meltdown?” “What is the likelihood that radiation would affect me?” “How likely is it for radiation to leak from the plant? Which generation is the reactor?” “Where and how do they transport the waste?”

It’s much better, therefore, to live in ignorance that you are within a zone that signals potential death should the worst come to pass. Ignorance keeps the weight of those questions off your shoulders. Being ignorant in this way allows one to be more productive elsewhere in life.

But… what if you do know this nuclear plant is near you? What if you do have questions? Maybe even some that cannot be answered with the amount of research you can dedicate to them. What then? Perhaps it’s better to forget the questions altogether, for you have learned what you could and couldn’t learn more. Maybe you’ve learned that nuclear power is one of the safest options per kilowatt hour produced humanity has ever conceived. At the current moment, nuclear energy is responsible for approximately 90 deaths per 1,000,000,000,000 kilowatt hours. Solar technology has dropped down to this death rate only in the last decade! Perhaps nuclear, which is far more reliable, is no riskier than anything else! Why worry about it? After all, you’re more likely to die driving to work than from a nuclear power plant disaster.

So, you were ignorant and happy. Then you learned a terrible truth and researched it because you had to know. Now you know it’s as safe as solar technology to produce electricity. Why bother past that? Maybe in a few years you can check the data and see if nuclear is still as safe as the alternatives. For the moment, you have no reason to remember—and worry—about the fact you could die a horrible death should something in that nuclear plant go wrong. It’s a stupid worry.

It’s wiser to disregard altogether, as a nuclear plant’s risk is comparable to driving a car, flying a plane, and walking in a major city. Would you refuse to go outside or travel ever again? None of us think about the risks of getting in our car, starting a combustion engine, and driving to the local market for groceries—so why should we bother to think and worry about a nuclear power plant?

This is the scenario that comes to mind. It is heavy and convoluted and mired with connotations and data that the average person doesn’t have the time or patience to dig through. To forget what you know—or perhaps becoming ignorant—is better than getting sucked into the quagmire of commentary, controversy, debate, data, and everything else. To move on from this topic, one must be forgetful, for it is stupid, foolish, senseless, ignorant, any word you like, to worry about such things when there are more pressing concerns at play.

Are these takeaways part of what Nietzsche is getting at when he says “Blessed are the Forgetful”? Did you think of something different that I missed? Am I wrong in my assessment? Explain away in the comments!

Want to hear what Jeff and I talked about? Well, the full podcast is available as well:

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