The Art of Manliness

What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World

Jun 1, 2022

46:53

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Quick takeaways

Embracing Nietzschean goals of self-overcoming and creative exertion can help individuals find deeper fulfillment in a tech-saturated world.

Slowing down information consumption, reflecting on meaningful content, and prioritizing intentional reading can lead to a more fulfilling experience amidst information overload.

Deep dives

The Importance of Striving and Overcoming in a Tech-Saturated World

In this podcast episode, author Nade Anderson discusses how Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy can provide insights on how to have a healthy relationship with modern technology. Anderson shares his personal experience of feeling disenchanted with the effects of technology on his life and turning to Nietzsche's philosophy for guidance. Nietzsche believed in a strenuous life of creative self-overcoming, striving, and finding meaning. Anderson explores how technology has made life too safe, easy, and frictionless, and how embracing Nietzschean goals can help individuals find deeper fulfillment. He highlights the importance of information consumption, the role of the physical body, and the need to embrace the Dionysian and live with more unpredictability in the tech-infused world.

The Necessity of Asceticism in the Age of Information Overload

01:28

Transition to Frictionless Experiences

00:32

Balancing Technology Use for Mind and Body Health

00:33

Striving for Progress

00:33

Introduction

2min

In Emergency, Break Glass by Nade Anderson

4min

How Did the German Philosopher Frederick Nicha Endup as Your Guide?

3min

Nikki's Idea of the Good Life

4min

The Ultimate Couch Potato

2min

Finding Meaning in Life

4min

Coo You Is an Ultra Light Hunting Brand

5min

The Slow Information Diet

4min

How to Read Slowly

3min

10.

The Body Matters

2min

11.

How Does Our Digital Technology Separate Us From Our Body?

2min

12.

On Line Isn't Just the Mind, It's the Body

2min

13.

The Dionysian

4min

14.

Do We Really Want Control Over the Weather?

3min

15.

Is Technology Serving as a Distraction, a Time Filler?

4min

16.

YouTube Is a Great Way to Incorporate Technology

3min

Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for espousing a philosophy that may be a help in wrestling with existential angst and finding meaning in life.

My guest would say that Nietzsche’s philosophy may also be useful for figuring out something else: how to have a healthy relationship with modern technology. His name is Nate Anderson and he’s the author of In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World. Today on the show, Nate, who’s a deputy editor at the website Ars Technica, shares how someone who grew up loving technology and has spent his career writing about it, reached a point where he felt disenchanted with its effects on his life, and why he turned to the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche for insights on how to approach tech more fruitfully. We then turn to the way tech has made life too safe, easy, and frictionless, and how Nietzschean goals, asceticism, and creative, self-overcoming exertion can help us find deeper fulfillment. Nate unpacks four Nietzsche-inspired guidelines for information consumption, the importance of the physical body in thinking and feeling, and our need to embrace greater Dionysian energy and perhaps live a bit more dangerously.