Nietzsche argues that complaining is one of the tools the weak use to "enjoy an intoxicating sense of power" - but it's not real power, it's imaginary. The strong don't complain; they change things

https://youtu.be/JtA_SnJDKmY

created by WeltgeistYT on 31/01/2025 at 17:02 UTC

568 upvotes, 38 top-level comments (showing 25)

Comments

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1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

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Comment by PrizeAble2793 at 31/01/2025 at 18:07 UTC

29 upvotes, 3 direct replies

I love this but... there are quite a lot of strong people who also believe in social equality, no?

Comment by urbandy at 31/01/2025 at 17:35 UTC

200 upvotes, 5 direct replies

he complained about Christianity and the status quo endlessly (and I love him for it)

Comment by GlasgowKisses at 31/01/2025 at 17:53 UTC*

51 upvotes, 5 direct replies

A lot of people these days think that an argument and a fight are the same, that clicking "share to feed" is the same as direct action, that saying "i support you!" is the same as actually supporting someone.

I'm all for the right to protest (for instance), but what's happening (for the most part) is that someone says "We want to protest!" and submits an application for permission to a governing body who in turn say "Yeah okay, you can protest on this day between the hours of this and that but if you're too loud or too aggressive or too disruptive or we don't like what you're saying then we'll send out the dogs and the horses!" and the aforementioned aggrieved party agrees eagerly despite now having a protest which, for all intents and purposes, has been kneecapped and will achieve nothing. This suggests to me that very few people actually *want* change, they want *things to be changed* without they themselves committing to the inconvenience of *bringing about* that change.

Comment by GrimgrinCorpseBorn at 31/01/2025 at 18:26 UTC

9 upvotes, 2 direct replies

So how about oligarchs bitching about the poor because their profits aren't high enough? Are the abject poor somehow the strong in this scenario? Would they if they were just 'strong' enough to organize as a cohesive whole?

Comment by WeltgeistYT at 31/01/2025 at 17:03 UTC

20 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Summary:

Suffering and Human Nature:

• Nietzsche acknowledges the ubiquity of suffering in human life, a theme central to many philosophical and religious doctrines. He critiques how different worldviews interpret suffering — from Christianity's promise of an afterlife for salvation to the pessimistic views of philosophers who see life as fundamentally negative.

The Strong vs. The Weak:

• For Nietzsche, the strong see suffering as a challenge to be overcome, a test of their will. They affirm life, embracing both joy and pain as part of existence. Conversely, the weak succumb to suffering, often by complaining or seeking solace in narratives that justify or blame external factors for their plight.

Resentment and Complaining:

• Nietzsche introduces the concept of "resentment" (or ressentiment), where the weak, unable to change their circumstances, resort to complaining as a form of imaginary revenge. This act of complaining provides a temporary sense of power, alleviating but not solving the underlying issues. He specifically critiques Christians and anarchists, seeing their ideals of equality as masks for this resentment.

Psychological Analysis:

• He argues that the weak invent value systems (like religious doctrines or social equality ideals) to cope with their powerlessness. These systems often preach equality not out of genuine belief in justice but as a way to level the playing field by pulling down the strong. This is a form of psychological self-deception, where the weak pretend to desire equality while secretly wishing to possess the power they criticize.

Life Affirmation vs. Complaint:

• Nietzsche contrasts complaining with his ideal of life-affirmation. He introduces the thought experiment of eternal recurrence from "The Joyful Science," where one must imagine living every moment of life, including its suffering, over and over. Affirming life in this context means loving every aspect, even the suffering, which requires immense psychological strength — an attribute of his concept of the Übermensch (Overman).

Conclusion:

• Nietzsche's philosophy suggests that complaining does not solve problems but rather reveals one's inability or unwillingness to face life's challenges head-on. Instead, he advocates for an active overcoming of obstacles, embracing life's hardships with a "Yes" to existence in all its forms, which he sees as the path to true power and self-mastery. This perspective is intended to push individuals towards a higher form of living, where one does not merely endure life but celebrates it.

In essence, Nietzsche's critique of complaining is not just about stopping the act but about transforming one's approach to life, from one of passive acceptance or resentment to active engagement and affirmation.

Comment by Hanzo_The_Ninja at 31/01/2025 at 18:19 UTC

11 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I'd argue in some situations *complaining* is an integral part to *overcoming*. For example, certain types of injustices can be most effectively addressed by complaining to the media, manufacturers, etc. etc.

I'd also argue while value systems *can* be invented to cope with powerlessnes, they can be invented for a variety of other reasons, such as justifying abuse or dehumanization of the powerless.

Comment by Chrisfix1 at 31/01/2025 at 20:57 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Can you do both at the same time???

Comment by Blindeafmuten at 31/01/2025 at 17:56 UTC*

5 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Is being weak and strong a choise?

If I have a puppy and I can choose to feed it or not, and the puppy can complain or not if it's not fed.

Does Nietzsche suggests that the puppy can be the strong one and make me feed it whenever it wants, and I will become the weak and complain because I am a slave to its will?

Is our power imaginary?

For a more realistic approach on power this was written thousands of years ago when strong and weak was not theoretical and would cost you your head.

Melian Dialogue

"... the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

But...and this is my addition...there's not the option to change sides.

Comment by silverum at 31/01/2025 at 18:01 UTC

13 upvotes, 2 direct replies

tl;dr Nietsche says 'doing things is better than saying things', all of philosophy STUNNED by completely original content never heard of even once before anywhere on Earth

Comment by awakened_primate at 31/01/2025 at 17:54 UTC*

14 upvotes, 1 direct replies

“The strong don’t complain” lol. The strong do whatever the hell they want without caring how others judge them. It’s the ambitious that don’t complain because they don’t want to be judged, lest they might be denied achieving their desires. So, who are the strong? The ones that forfeit their desires so they can openly state their truth or the ones who forfeit their freedom of expression so they can have what they covet? There are plenty of examples of people seen as strong by the masses, but have begotten their perceived strength by sacrificing their authenticity.

EDIT: And also, how is complaining separated from people just stating what they believe and being judged for it and marked as complainers?

Society will label people as it sees to its benefit. One moment one is a scion of truth, the other to be marked as asking too much from society.

And what if one “complains” but at the same time faces their suffering head on? I believe separation of these concepts is sometimes very difficult and requires us to see things in black and white whereas reality is always-always seen and related as being infinite shades of gray.

EDIT 2: Yeah, I choose to be resentful sometimes because it makes me feel good. Doesn’t mean I’m not accepting the world as it is.

Nietzche can have his cute little righteous purity of brave suffering but that’s just fake bravado. Life is shit and it feels great to be weak and take a weak shit on it sometimes. What of it? We can wipe our ass after, roll up our sleeves and do something about it while resenting it. The two can coexist and to not accept that is disingenuous.

Comment by rnev64 at 01/02/2025 at 03:20 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I always get the sense Nietzsche's focus on weakness is like Froyd's focus on sexuality - hyper inflated.

It's not wrong, but it takes on an exaggerated large part of the theory due to the persona and specific psychological traits of the author.

Nietzsche himself is famous for psychological analysis of past philosophers and showing how their work is actually largely a result of social games humans play with each other. ie Socrates felt weak and ugly so he created his philosophy to fight the oppression of beauty and power in Athenian society - and also to get young people to pay attention to him (not uncommon among modern professors either).

There's an old Hebrew saying, don't know how to translate accurately but the jist is something like: "A person criticizes others because he sees his own faults and weakness in them".

I think it's our job as readers or consumers of philosophy to try to weed the psychological persona out as much as we can if we want to discuss philosophy. Though I sometimes suspect if we did so rigorously - not much would remain of philosophy.

Comment by sxtigon at 31/01/2025 at 19:10 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think… Really comes down to controlling the then (past) or the then (future). Controlling the past is relatable to complaining while acting towards an outcome in future is engagement. The tricky part me thinks is when people don’t control aspects of their past and work towards changing that past. Complaining ≠ sharing information you don’t have control over.

Comment by ooOmegAaa at 31/01/2025 at 21:29 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Fate : I'm about to ruin this man's whole career.

Comment by PervSpram at 01/02/2025 at 02:32 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I don't want to go to jail.

Comment by creggieb at 01/02/2025 at 03:02 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Complaining can be done legitimately and respectfully. When a complainer is asked "and what do you want me to do about it" by the relevant authority, they have an answer, and its something potentially possible.

A whiner on the other hand, complains about things that cannot be helped. Whining makes a bad situation, that needs to be endured more difficult.

Comment by Sibs at 01/02/2025 at 03:48 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Is complaining something other than a social process for identifying issues and potentially resolving them?

How does one complain outside of society?

Comment by nivtric at 01/02/2025 at 11:54 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Wait until everyone tries to be a superhuman trying to change things. You can't complain, so suicide is the only option left to get out of this hell.

Comment by Crake241 at 01/02/2025 at 16:37 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Give me the tools to do this Nietsche!

Comment by Ok_Data_5768 at 01/02/2025 at 18:14 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

if you dont complain your food will suck

Comment by Bobsothethird at 01/02/2025 at 19:43 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Nietzsche also died horrible depressed, alone isolated from his family, and longing for a woman who never loved him back.

It's best to not worship philosophers. Nietzsche had a lot of good to say, but by no means would you want to love his life.

Comment by Mission-AnaIyst at 01/02/2025 at 21:25 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I think that could be a mistranslation. I would translate as "beschweren" and i think he would say something like "klagen" or "jammern" in this context. Also, he lived not in a democracy. In a democracy, complaints are one way to change stuff.

Comment by slvrsrfr1987 at 02/02/2025 at 03:20 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

This was the cover of frankenstein when i was in college. Frankenstein probably thought he was capable. But his creation complained constanly of loneliness. And was far more capable than he.

Comment by foldinger at 02/02/2025 at 23:35 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

>>Nietzsche argues that complaining is one of the tools the weak use to "enjoy an intoxicating sense of power" - but it's not real power, it's imaginary. The strong don't complain; they change things<<<

The weak don't complain only for enjoying imaginary power. The weak complain to the strong for them to change things. If the strong do so then this is real power. Of course the strong themself don't complain if they can change things themself.

Nietzsche is so weak in understanding simple things.

Comment by Mother-Lobster-116 at 03/02/2025 at 01:32 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Cleansing power of violence?