Bang on!

The lesson to take from Nietzsche is that we all may not fully understand the implications of our most cherished values, our personal beliefs, or actions, and live our entire lives in ignorance or self-denial, unconsciously undermining ourselves and others.

How do we avoid this?

We need to make sure that the belief systems we occupy, and the values we deeply attach ourselves to, are actually serving us and those around us.

We need to make sure that everything we believe is not simply being used to serve someone else’s interests, to dampen our minds, and to keep us under control.

Can we ever be sure of anything? How do we know when we have taken enough care?

The harsh truth is that we must always continue to think, explore, and question so long as we live.

This is the burden (and joy) of being a free being.

We must never rest content placing our freedom into rigid traditions, or pre-made generic belief systems.

Is this too much to ask? Is this too much of a burden to place on people?

Not if you care about freedom.

Freedom is the heaviest of burdens for a human being.

I want to be clear, I am not saying that everyone should become philosophers, if by that someone means dedicating their life to studying, writing, and thinking about academic philosophy.

That is silly and naive.

But I do think that everyone should dedicate at least some meaningful portion of their lives to critical self-examination and self-creation.

The reality is that we live in a world where self-inquiry, self-examination, and self-creation are simply too inconvenient to be done.