Nietzsche's Deepest Idea Will Change Your Life

Nietzsche's eternal recurrence (eternal return) is a life-changing idea. It is the idea your whole life – past, present, and future – repeats exactly as it is, forever. On the face of it, this is an abstract notion, totally irrelevant to lived experience. But should you dare to take it seriously, should you dare to assume it could be true, the eternal return reveals its terrifying depth. It reveals, also, its potential to change your life forever.

#nietzsche #philosophy #existentialism #eternity #mysticism

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra
▶ Friedrich Nietzsche: Ecce Homo
▶ Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil

▶ Karl Löwith: Nietzsche’s Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence
▶ Rose Pfeffer: Eternal Recurrence in Nietzsche's Philosophy
▶ Philip J. Kain: Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, and the Horror of Existence

▶ Walter Kaufmann: Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist

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🎶 Music used

▶ original S2S score by @RMSounds [including that 🔥 beat at the end]
▶ YouTube Audio library and various Public Domain recordings

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⌛ Timestamps

05:10 Recurrence as Being & Becoming
13:20 Recurrence as a Challenge
18:03 Recurrence as the Will to Power
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📝 Script

[seekerseeker]

Many thanks to the S2S patrons on Patreon: Tsvetina Ivanova, RMSounds, Violeta Nedialkova, Shankar Arul, , Isaac Ng, Jonathan Allen, Mark Schwartzberg, Christopher Mailander, Albert cipriani, Pachier Virasami, Brian G, Richard Metafora, Charly H, Lydia Richards, Yipeng, Colin K, Douglas Hills, J. R. Bob Dobbs, Grey, Ivo Mihov, Hans Krueger, Vladimír Šindler, Neil Toyota, Paweł Rozumek, Scott Myers, jimsturling, Nate Reeve, Yvone Beisert, Ben Petty, The Analytical Btch, Mary J Riddle-Bevan, Jamie Bell, Leo Sebastian, Sol Diaz, Isabel, Aayush Khanna, Christopher Devlin, Krozal, Thomas Pettitt, asdas, Roxar96, Hans Krueger, Patrick White, Joshua Plummer, max, Umesh, Joel & Beth, Christopher Kempton, marie möller, Gerardo Lopez, Joanne Yoon, Erik Drewniak, Thomas Crisp, William Ward, Konstantin Petkov (Kosio), Luna, M Skellyman, Mladen R., Andrew Brown, All Nazis Are Nonces, kit cheah, marquisfleur, Matt Geise, Sylvia, Nancy Fleming, Paula Lin, JKomondy, Blaze Williams, Chris Selnes, Registar, Greg h, Ang Kaji, David Cross, Armando Hernandez, Stephen D Higgins, Annette, Armando Hernandez, Victoria Pecherska, Jörg Malzahn, Evelyn Tan, giman97, Amarnath, N, Brett Ammend, Kate Radcliffe, Jack Secker, Anil, XvGt, helen reyes, Jerald Pinson, Mike Moore, Robert C. Allen, Aaron Perry, Boris Mihaylov, Cassandra Bramucci, Thinkdriver8, gguerdrum, Bonnie Lincicome, Stanley Chan, jayplk, Sanjeevini Dutta, Niels de Jong, Iván Cámpora, Andreas, Birendra Gabadamudalige, Ven, Shane Kempton, Matthew, Rich Newsome (x2), Paolo Scalora, Paul Bernhard, Katerina Shmelkova, Alix & Michael May, Chris Holloway, Sudershan Vadehra, Sasha Solovyev, Para Te Ika O Tangaroa, Eszter, Peggy Choenchom, I wonder what those eyes are seeing, Peggy Choenchom, Sarah Curtis, Anna Oldfield! Your generous support allows me to do this work!

I would also like to thank all the channel members who support my work through YouTube! You will know them by their orange badges in the comments :)


I owe this video, like everything else I do, to the gentle and constant support of my partner. Thank you, Elly!

[ronin]

“once you awaken, you shall remain awake eternaly” nietzsche

[benpetty]

Ah man another great video. Your synthesis of Buddhist/Nietzschean ideas is always impressive. And the way you present and format these videos is digestible and entertaining. Thanks for all the impressive work you do!

[malice]

22:00 your description of time here is excellent

[ricky_fitbless]

May you get in abundance what you are trying to give to the community, keep progressing 🌸

[Guys_Love_Each_Other]

00:11 Eternal recurrence is a transformational idea.
03:52 Eternal recurrence of all events in life.
07:56 Nietzsche criticizes the invention of an ideal world and its impact on reality.
11:32 Nietzsche's idea of eternal recurrence challenges us to evaluate our lives from an eternal perspective.
15:25 Embracing eternal recurrence requires full acceptance of life.
19:02 The will to power as a human drive
22:46 Nietzsche's view on the personal will and necessity
26:09 Embrace eternal return through absolute love.
29:52 Gratitude for support and encouragement





Eternal recurrence is a transformational idea.

- Nietzsche's idea is meant to cast light over every shadow and bend even the loneliest suffering towards joy.
- It is a concept that asserts that everything in life – past, present, and future – repeats exactly as it is, forever.

Eternal recurrence of all events in life.
- Rejects the idea of a transcendent realm of existence and views faith in an ideal world as an escape.
- Engages in the ancient debate of Being vs Becoming, advocating for acceptance of impermanence and relativity.

Nietzsche criticizes the invention of an ideal world and its impact on reality.
- He discusses the concepts of 'God, ' 'beyond, ' and 'soul' as inventions to devalue the only existing world.
- Nietzsche explores the contrast between the philosophies of Becoming and Being and their implications on life and existence.

Nietzsche's idea of eternal recurrence challenges us to evaluate our lives from an eternal perspective.
- Nietzsche presents the concept of the eternal return as a way to view life from a cosmic perspective, questioning whether one's life could be lived over and over for eternity.
- The eternal return is not about pursuing only pleasure and achievement, but rather about embracing life in its entirety, including both positive and negative experiences, in order to attain a deeper understanding.

Embracing eternal recurrence requires full acceptance of life.
- Acknowledge and love every aspect of existence, including suffering.
- Approach eternal recurrence as a Zen koan to spark psychological change and surrender to experience.

The will to power as a human drive
- The will to power is a relentless drive for self-expression and self-overcoming, encountering resistance and necessity.
- Necessity, including all life circumstances like genetics, nationality, and time, acts as a limit on the will, denying it absolute power.

Nietzsche's view on the personal will and necessity
- Nietzsche believes that we must subsume the impersonal world of necessity under the personal will
- He sees the individual will as part of the cosmic flow of energy and not separate from the forces of life in the world

Embrace eternal return through absolute love.
- The will to power involves recognizing limitations and flourishing in struggles.
- The eternal return symbolizes the cyclical nature of existence and the unity of opposites.

Gratitude for support and encouragement
- Acknowledgment of patrons and members
- Appreciation for all viewers who engage with the channel

[Kamabushi]

This is so very interesting and it helps to make sleep but
The commercials are insufferable

[echoshadow]

One night, I was dreaming. For what I remember, I was doing all the most normal and everyday things, until in a moment a doubt struck me: what if I could excape reality? And then, something deep from the dark awakened: a girl turned her head, and in its back there was a face, a black smile, with pointing eyes. He said: "WE ARE REALITY!!".
And it was so strong, and it was so intense. It felt real, as if you were awake, thinking about it was the "real" world, when all of a sudden the maker of it makes himself manifest, and he says you and him are the same thing, and the world trembles: it was all a dream, and I couldn't excape, bc it was my own creation.
His voice was so strong I woke up belching the air I had in my lungs.
That experience changed profondly the way I see myself and the world. The best way I can explain it is through this idea of Nietzche of the eternal recurrence, and the "amor fati". I can say I feel represented by them.

[crosstolerance]

"Life is the will actualizing itself." Such a profound statement to which leaves me questioning its deeper meaning.

[Boris_Chang]

Eternal return is not merely the heaviest burden—it is hell.

[commentking]

This video is way to long. Cliffs. Dont take Nietzsche literally. Eternal recurrence is not an idea that Nietzsche thinks is "true" in the most mundane sense of that word, its an idea that he thinks is most useful to live by. If you can live fully immersed in the idea that every moment repeats you will then attempt to make the most of your life etc etc, and thus this idea is Nietzsche' s solution to the inherent nihilism in god is dead, there is no meaning etc, which is the hunchback on his back he refers to carrying in Thus Spake Zarathustra. Its a classic existentialist idea, but its not an idea based in making a sincere attempt to describe reality, its an idea based on the assumption that there is no way to do that, so we might as well come up with most useful explanations/narratives for living to our maximum, and the idea that everything repeats is the apotheosis of that idea, e.g. as useful as an idea or explanation can be in terms of how it will effect how one lives.

[Nitephall]

Fascinating video. Thank you for the work you put into this.

[ciscojablonski]

This video is so thought-provoking and well presented. I have always had a knack for discomfort with a positive attitude. Perhaps as a result of a difficult early life. But perhaps too that I have always felt like one simply cannot remove positive experiences from negative ones. Amor Fati... I wish a love supreme for all of us!

[dr.christopherdiaz]

I can still remember when I was in K3 or K4, so 3 or 4 years old, how me and some kids sat around one day and started discussing birthdays. We then started to wonder what would happen since we were all heading towards another year. We all agreed that the most logical thing we could think of was that when you get to 100, you start back over at 0. This made so much sense to me, but when I told my parents about this idea, they laughed it off and explained some Catholic dogma to me as a replacement.

[anassamouche]

If eternity exists, it's not necessarily the case of an endless return. I mean there may be endless universes and each one with different laws of physics or some weird realities.

[The]

This was most excellent! I can honestly say that with your video here is the first time I feel that truly groked Nietzsche’s Eternal Return…thank you!

[robertduran]

It seems to me that we have no choice BUT to be able to bear it. If I am born again as the same person into the same into the next cycle of existence, I'll be nothing but an ignorant babe again. I will have no control over the beginning circumstances that ended up shaping me, which shaped the decisions I made from there, which shaped the live I've lived and will live. Will the knowledge cripple me? Will it bring me joy? Will I oscillate between the 2 until I die? Will I choose to forget as much as I am able so I can live somewhere a little higher up the pit of despair. Strange. When you accept despair and drink it in as you would any experience of joy and pleasure, it tastes a little less bitter. It simple becomes another flavor in life with which to savor.

I didn't expect to type this much here. This video touched me.

[ArrrrrrPeeee]

Really well done. Thank you for your good work. 👍

[skepsswag]

I can’t even understand nietzsche when someone is trying to explain his philosophy to me, let alone when I read it my self.

[tstecksuan]

So profoundly presented, grateful. Had to watch repeatedly to catch a glimpse of understanding.🤣🙏