March 1, 2015

Kierkegaard & Nietzsche on modern media

Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard was opposed to the group ideas that Hegel presented and focused more on the individuals and their progress. The Danish writer would write under different pseudonyms as he would write to different groups with only a few sermons written in his own name.

Kierkegaard pushed the idea of mediating teaching; the idea of a teacher who steps down to the level of the learner to then bring them up. In a religious sense, this is the way that God teaches - He is so moved by us that He comes down to our level to teach us and bring us up. He was against the idea of making things easy for people or making them feel like they understand when they don't. Learning and progress should be difficult.

He also wrote about different levels of being; aesthetic, ethical, and religious. Religious was the highest and includes some aspects of the other levels but focuses on the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. It is to respond to mediated teaching.

In modern media, Kierkegaard's principles apply by encouraging websites to get on the level of the visitor and then bringing them up. A website must first be on a higher level than its visitors in some regard and it must understand what that aspect is. It can then get down to the level of each visitor (individually) and provide guidance on what the visitor must do to progress. It should't be easy for the visitors to progress but they must have the perspective that the website is guiding them and they can take it step by step.

Nietzsche

Nietzsche presented the idea of "will to power." This simply means the desire to go beyond what one has done before. In other words, self-overcoming excellence. This is not nihilism (losing meaning), decadentism (making this life seem pretty), resentment, pandering, nor seeking ease and rest. This progress is meant to be a struggle.

Regarding social websites, Nietzsche would push for challenging visitors as he understood the importance of a struggle. Visitors should not be treated in a way that discourages them but places in opportunities where they can excel and accomplish things they might not have envisioned themselves doing. For example, as the visitor progresses through the website, it should require thought and analysis and in some ways the visitor should feel like they are creating the content themselves.

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