Middle Post-Moderns
Transitioning from the thought of the early Post-moderns, Middle post-moderns made the shift from group level interpretations and prescriptions for society to individualistic ones. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche were among these voices. Though they differed much in their actual approaches to do this, the similarities brought about by the focus on the individual as the center of social change is what merits them being categorized in this unique period.Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye KierkegaardBorn: May 5, 1813, Copenhagen, Denmark
Died: November 11, 1855, Copenhagen, Denmark
Education: University of Copenhagen
Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher who is often considered the first of the existentialists. Existentialists question the “why” of life. Kierkegaard believed that each individual--not a society or religion, although he was very Christian--is responsible for answering this question and giving meaning to life and living it passionately and sincerely.
Teachings
Kierkegaard beleived that people's lives, or way of being in the world, should be congruent with their moral beliefs. Because he did not fully live up to some of the moral principles,he wrote about in his books, he often used pseudonyms instead of his real name, thus maintaining his authenticity. He thought that sin is being inauthentic. It is despair that comes by not being true to who you are or not living up to your highest potential. To teach people to be authentic 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. For him, this was 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. (See post Descending Alone Before Ascending Together)
Kierkegaard was against the idea of making things easy for people. Making people feel like they understand when they don't inhibits learning. Learning and progress should be difficult. He taught that there are three levels or spheres of being; aesthetic, ethical, and religious to which people progressed. The 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 the response of mediated teaching.
Applications
- Unified by progression -- as users, we lift each other, ultimately all of us arriving at the religious sphere.
- Accessible by mentoring -- we participate by consuming content at the level we are at or sharing and creating content condescending to where others are at; content is tailored to users at different levels: users seeking pleasure and gratification (aesthetic), guidance from rules (ethical), guidance by spirit (religious).
- Ongoing mentoring -- we are motivated by love to create non-pandering content that helps others advance from aesthetic to ethical and ethical to religious.
- A social website should be authentic.
- Your users should trust you to live up to the image you present (and hopefully your image is a good one).
- A social website should help people move.
- A social website should help people move from believing in something to taking action. For instance, Facebook helps people not only believe that connecting with old friends is a good thing, but actually do it.
- Encouraging websites to get on the level of the visitor and then bringing them up.
- A website should come from a higher place to a lower place to reach their audience. Only from this place can they lead them. Hand in Hand. 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.
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Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm NietzscheBorn: October 15, 1844, Röcken, Germany
Died: August 25, 1900, Weimar, Germany
Nietzsche was a German philosopher. One of his key concepts was the idea of "life-affirmation" which was the idea to focus on this life instead of a life to come. He believed that religion and morality were created by men and had a lot of errors.
Teachings
Nietzsche beleived that when you create something, you should create it with the belief that the viewer/listener is a creator themselves. A writer would write to writers, a speaker speak to speakers, and a website designer to fellow web designers. Nietzsche wrote to the Over-man (The leader's that are changing the culture) - not to the masses. He would say that a book for the masses is a book of the masses or a book for all ages is a book for none, which is a critique of the modernist conception of history or progress that said things were complete or static. He believed that things should always evolve. Nietzsche implicitly thought he was an Over-man, an elitist... He proposed the idea of the "Will to Power." This will is because humans are erotic desiring beings and simply means the desire to go beyond what one has done before. In other words, self-overcoming excellence.
Nietzsche was against Schopenhauer's Buddhist inspired philosophy that believed, if desire causes suffering, stop desiring to stop suffering. He thought like Kierkegaard that progress is meant to be a struggle. Because there is such a thing as progress, it is not nihilism(losing meaning) nor decadence (making this life seem pretty). One should not resent the struggle nor pander to those who do. He believed that everything should feed into life and action . He once quoted Goethe saying "I hate everything that merely instructs me without increasing or directly quickening my activity" (UM).
Applications
- Unified by “will to power” -- we come together on the site to improve ourselves in some sense.
- Accessible by example -- we participate by observing examples of self-improvement.
- Ongoing by examples -- as users, we share and create authentic content, showing examples of self-improvement.
- When creating a social website, make it for users that would someday make their own social website.
- Challenge visitors to look at themselves and laugh at themselves. It should be uncomfortable.
- Don't let the site get drowned in a sea of irrelevance. All information should feed into life and action.
- A good social website is never complete, always evolving. Always ahead of the culture.
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