What Nietzsche Would Say About Instagram

Thought experiment: What would Friedrich Nietzsche, the great German philosopher of the 19th century, say about Instagram?

I have a few theories based on what he wrote and how he lived. But first, a bit of context because Nietzsche was very far ahead of his time, placing his finger upon profound societal shifts in the 19th century which we’re still grappling with nowadays — shifts exacerbated by our fixation with celebrities and dependence on social media.

(He discussed his post-humous popularity, predicting “I have a terrible fear that I shall one day be pronounced holy“, and he set the date somewhere around Y2K: “Let us assume that people will be allowed to read (my work) in about the year 2000.” He was confident they would enjoy it when they did: “It seems to me that to take a book of mine into his hands is one of the rarest distinctions that anyone can confer upon himself. I even assume that he removes his shoes when does so — not to speak of boots.” This was especially striking because Nietzsche died penniless and alone in an insane asylum, partially due to the fact that during his lifetime his work went largely unread and he toiled in obscure poverty.

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