Philosophies for Life 137: Nietzsche - Why You Actually Fear AI (It’s Not Poverty) (Existentialism)
Jan 3, 2026
26:16
Nietzsche - Why You Actually Fear AI (It’s Not Poverty) (Existentialism). In this podcast we will talk about Why You Actually Fear AI from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the main precursors of existentialism.
In 1882, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche published The Gay Science, which features a famous scene called 'The Parable of the Madman.' In the story, a man runs into a busy marketplace in broad daylight, holding a lantern, shouting, “I seek God! I seek God!” People laugh at him. They tease him: “Did God get lost? Is he hiding?” They treat it like a joke. But the madman stops, stares at them, and finally says: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” Nietzsche didn’t mean we literally killed a god. He meant that science and reason replaced our need for God. We swapped mystery for facts, the cathedral for the lab, and made the divine unnecessary. Nietzsche was warning us. Removing God also removes the sense of security people relied on. For thousands of years, religion told people who they were, why they suffered, and what their lives meant. When that sun disappeared, Nietzsche predicted that the West would face a crisis of meaning. We would lose our center of gravity. So what did we do? We replaced the old structure with a new one. In the 20th century, we built society around utility. We decided that meaning comes from being useful. You’re a writer. A coder. A doctor. An analyst. Your identity is your competence. Your value is your output. “I am useful, therefore I matter.” And that brings us to today. Right now, that entire structure is collapsing. We’ve created machines that can imitate the very bilities we’ve built our identities on - logic, creativity, analysis, language. If you’re a writer and the machine writes faster… If you’re a coder and the machine codes better… If you’re an analyst and the machine sees what you can’t…The real fear isn’t, “Will I lose my job?” It’s the same fear the madman felt: We’re facing the “Death of Human Utility.” And just like in Nietzsche’s time, we’re not prepared for the psychological weight that comes with it. In this video, I want to look at AI through Nietzsche’s eyes. I want to explore the danger of becoming what he called “The Last Man”- a passive, comfort-addicted observer. And I want to talk about the solution he offered. Because if we’re losing our utility, we need something else to keep us from falling into the dark.
Topics covered -
Introduction - 00:00 – 03:12
Act 1: The Idol of Utility – 03:12 – 06:28
Act 2: The Abyss and the Last Man – 06:28 – 11:35
Act 3: The Crisis of Mediocrity – 11:35 – 17:10
Act 4: The Solution – 17:10 – 24:16
Act 5: The Bridge – 24:16 – 26:22
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher, poet, essayist, and cultural critic. He is considered to be one of the most daring and greatest thinkers of all time. His writings on truth, morality, language, aesthetics, cultural theory, history, nihilism, power, consciousness, and the meaning of existence have exerted an enormous influence on Western philosophy and intellectual history. He was one of the biggest precursors of existentialism, which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent, determining their own development through acts of will. By his famous words “God is dead!”, Nietzsche moved the focus of philosophy from metaphysics to the material world and to the individual as a responsible person for his own life. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote several books like The Birth of a Tragedy, Human, All Too Human, The Dawn, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Twilight of the Idols, The Will to Power, The Antichrist, and many more. His teachings have shaped the lives of many people; from psychologists to poets, dancers to social revolutionaries.
In 1882, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche published The Gay Science, which features a famous scene called 'The Parable of the Madman.' In the story, a man runs into a busy marketplace in broad daylight, holding a lantern, shouting, “I seek God! I seek God!” People laugh at him. They tease him: “Did God get lost? Is he hiding?” They treat it like a joke. But the madman stops, stares at them, and finally says: “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” Nietzsche didn’t mean we literally killed a god. He meant that science and reason replaced our need for God. We swapped mystery for facts, the cathedral for the lab, and made the divine unnecessary. Nietzsche was warning us. Removing God also removes the sense of security people relied on. For thousands of years, religion told people who they were, why they suffered, and what their lives meant. When that sun disappeared, Nietzsche predicted that the West would face a crisis of meaning. We would lose our center of gravity. So what did we do? We replaced the old structure with a new one. In the 20th century, we built society around utility. We decided that meaning comes from being useful. You’re a writer. A coder. A doctor. An analyst. Your identity is your competence. Your value is your output. “I am useful, therefore I matter.” And that brings us to today. Right now, that entire structure is collapsing. We’ve created machines that can imitate the very bilities we’ve built our identities on - logic, creativity, analysis, language. If you’re a writer and the machine writes faster… If you’re a coder and the machine codes better… If you’re an analyst and the machine sees what you can’t…The real fear isn’t, “Will I lose my job?” It’s the same fear the madman felt: We’re facing the “Death of Human Utility.” And just like in Nietzsche’s time, we’re not prepared for the psychological weight that comes with it. In this video, I want to look at AI through Nietzsche’s eyes. I want to explore the danger of becoming what he called “The Last Man”- a passive, comfort-addicted observer. And I want to talk about the solution he offered. Because if we’re losing our utility, we need something else to keep us from falling into the dark.
Topics covered -
Introduction - 00:00 – 03:12
Act 1: The Idol of Utility – 03:12 – 06:28
Act 2: The Abyss and the Last Man – 06:28 – 11:35
Act 3: The Crisis of Mediocrity – 11:35 – 17:10
Act 4: The Solution – 17:10 – 24:16
Act 5: The Bridge – 24:16 – 26:22
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher, poet, essayist, and cultural critic. He is considered to be one of the most daring and greatest thinkers of all time. His writings on truth, morality, language, aesthetics, cultural theory, history, nihilism, power, consciousness, and the meaning of existence have exerted an enormous influence on Western philosophy and intellectual history. He was one of the biggest precursors of existentialism, which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent, determining their own development through acts of will. By his famous words “God is dead!”, Nietzsche moved the focus of philosophy from metaphysics to the material world and to the individual as a responsible person for his own life. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote several books like The Birth of a Tragedy, Human, All Too Human, The Dawn, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Twilight of the Idols, The Will to Power, The Antichrist, and many more. His teachings have shaped the lives of many people; from psychologists to poets, dancers to social revolutionaries.