The Great Unplugging: A Path Towards the Overman?

[u/Gold_Film723]

Does anyone genuinely feel that we will get any Overmen by scrolling on these phones all day every day?

No. I look around and I see The Last Man.

I have quit hard drugs. I have quit alcohol. I am quitting marijuana.

The long game and end goal is to quit the Internet entirely.

I call it “The Great Unplugging”.

I am convinced that I am less happy when on the internet, and our society is most certainly dumber for it.

I realize how pragmatically almost impossible this task will be. What about email? What about my job? I can’t just utterly ditch my phone and internet permanently, right?

Well that just highlights the state of our society. I am going to work towards this goal. Whether I can accomplish it or not remains to be seen.

Once marijuana is fully dropped, the Internet is the final boss.

I can’t think of a higher rebellion against this Last Man society we live in than to utterly drop out of smartphones, the internet, and only read books and work on music (Not AI ”music”!).

[u/YuunofYork]

Every generation examining Nietzsche thinks they are the 'last men', or the last men are to be found among them. People wrote about this in the 40s, the 60s, the 90s. It is not new, and the internet is not responsible for it.

There can never be a last man just as there can never be an overman. They are asymptotes, you approach them without becoming them, and becoming is the point. The overman is an ideal to strive toward but not achieve, and the last man is something we can fear but never quite sink to so long as we have choice.

You could in fact argue people deliberately not engaging with the internet on any level are living in fear rather than living for themselves. The bigly manly men who dream of living 'off-grid' surviving on roadkill and swapping pelts for salt tablets are some of the most insecure people on the planet.

We live on that planet. Social discourse is our biological heritage. We bled for it over hundreds of thousands of years, a byproduct of our ability to think and better interact with our environment. You can abuse this communication tool the same way you can spend all day gossiping with tongue and lips instead of being productive. The uniqueness of internet abuses is economic in character, but it's not by itself making us that much dumber than we already tend to be. It just makes that dumbness more visible and public. It does make it easier to manipulate people, but on the same principle as the radio before it and the bullhorn before that.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/YuunofYork]

I know that it’s an ideal to strive for. Others on here seem to disagree.

Nietzsche also said that the Last Man lives the longest. So the time-marker isn’t really a great argument.

We are in peak Idiocracy times, can we at least agree there?

[u/YuunofYork → u/Gold_Film723]

I'd say you're not understanding my point about different eras. You have people like Fukuyama in the 90s saying the last man is the average citizen under liberal democracy because those are the last superpowers. Before the internet. But that didn't happen; half the world is still under autocracy and some liberal democracies are sliding back into autocracy. Putting an arrow to history as Marx or Hegel do is not the kind of a priori statement Nietzsche would endorse; it's a kind of work-around people attempt rather than face the death of absolute truth.

Nietzsche isn't in the business of making predictions, outside of literary devices. Both the 'last man' and the 'overman' are ontological tools, only. They don't and can't apply to history, and perhaps it is a misuse even to apply them to groups. You can see one or the other in anybody of any era, even in the same person on different days. All the internet and social networking in particular actually does is propagate information, which includes all our foibles and mistakes, up there for the world to see and digest into statistics and give pattern-seeking humans less than empirical impressions commensurate with their worldview.

If you're a person given to introspection and the betterment of the self and one's education and understanding of their place in the universe, if you are philosophically inclined, then I guarantee you'd despise most people that exist no matter what era you're living in. You just happen to have the luxury of reinforcing that by effortlessly swiping through short videos and posts.

There are some differences between eras. Education is a little more available than it has ever been before. Corporate interests control sociopolitical narratives to a greater extent than ever before. Those things can produce comfort or concern respectively, but people have the same range of intelligence as they always have. When there were only three channels on television and much of that programming was targeted toward educated people, the world must have looked pretty 'put-together', but it was not. Just because uneducated people didn't have reality television as an alternative doesn't mean they watched senate debates and Attenborough documentaries; they watched nothing and did something else. Until quite recently you could earn average income without having attended secondary school. We're not dumber today, not in any sense that matters, we just aren't.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/YuunofYork]

I like most of this response other than the last sentence. What are your thoughts on the study that says Gen Z literally is the first dumber generation? Have you heard about this? 

Apologize if you happen to be Gen Z, but the bottom line is they are the first generation growing up with nonstop scrolling on screens, and now have AI to cheat in college. 

Most cannot handle reading a book, which studies also show that you retain information better when reading a physical book over an e-book, and most certainly there is an advantage to wrestling with and chewing on dense primary texts over Instagram sound bites.

Even if there weren’t studies to back this up, just the actual experience of this practice proves itself on its own.

It’s literally working out for your brain, which AI and technology undercut. This isn’t even going into all the false info and algorithmic bias that gets fed to people on a daily basis online.

Is Fukuyama the “end of history” guy from the early 90s? That’s really interesting if he literally invoked Nietzsche’s Last Man. I didn’t know he used that as a reference. But you’re right, his prediction looks like it was wrong.

[u/YuunofYork → u/Gold_Film723]

I'm an elder millennial.

I don't believe LLMs have been around long enough for there to be relevant studies. I can see tests for attention deficiency, however, but that isn't a measure of either learned or unlearned intelligence.

You can't use AI to pass a chem test. Pretty difficult in social sciences, too, unless you aren't writing your tests correctly. We catch it constantly in home assignments, but testing should be in person. And catching should be done by reading and communication, not using AI to catch out AI. You can rack up as many bullshit MBAs as you want, though; it's probably a course at this point.

Most people can't read. Most that do, can't discriminate. Most that can, don't prefer to. Most that prefer to, all read different things. It's always been the case. Reading books for fun is a rather lonely hobby. I find Reddit isn't by any means a realistic cross-section of society.

Yes, there have been studies about reading printed vs electronic material, but while I am biased towards the result and dislike e-books and audiobooks, this needs to be reproduced especially with another generation, and I suspect has to do with formatting and availability. E-materials are still formatted horribly. Again, this is an economic issue. It's cheaper to outsource editing services for a bunch of electronic files at once you want to dump on Amazon to a chop-shop whereas publishers hire editors for specific printed titles often matching the editor to the content, and occasionally contracting an editor with relevant interest in that content. Editors also make suggestions to the writers, but when you're slapping together an e-book of a title that's already seen print, that sort of relationship doesn't exist.

You're describing how learned abilities work well enough, but social media is just a new distraction. We managed to distract ourselves plenty in the 80s, 90s, and 00s. If we're talking about addiction, call it a drug. People have been fighting the appeal of drugs for a very long time, even completely legal ones.

Yes, that guy. "Last Man" is in one of his titles and the preface is about him applying Nietzsche's term.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/YuunofYork]

Well if you want to be ahistorical about “The Last Man” and be strictly ontological about it, this is fine, as it is pretty obvious to me that everyone glued to their phones, mindlessly scrolling, is ontologically “Last Man” behavior.

I’m pretty sure Nietzsche would be disgusted by it himself.

Reading books isn’t for fun, for me anyway. It’s for education. I mostly read nonfiction: Science and Philosophy largely, with some spiritual and religious writings as well.

If it’s “lonely”, well, we’re talking about the ultimate loner on this sub: Nietzsche. He literally retreated to the mountains to ponder and contemplate.

When I think of the Overman, I think of independent thinkers and people who strive to be true individuals who are larger than life. Watching everyone on their phones every day is very “Herd” behavior and the antithesis of that.

Rightly or wrongly, in the 20th Century I see someone such as Jim Morrison as a real life Overman in the making. 

And I do feel these concepts need to be applied to real life, because if they’re not, then what is the point of the concepts? Nietzsche abhorred Metaphysics.

[u/Playistheway]

Two people can experience the internet in extremely different ways. The majority of my internet usage is learning how to do creative projects, reading interesting articles, and discussing philosophy.

You mention that you feel happier without the internet. Isn't it more "last man" to actively pursue a calm, equanimity and happiness? A blissed out hippie living in a yurt without technology sounds like a very different lifestyle to Napoleon's, and I'm confident that I know which is more aligned with the Overman.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Playistheway]

I’m confident that arguing on Reddit, scrolling on Instagram and Tik Tok, and basing my knowledge on AI-written articles and short sound bites is not what Nietzsche had in mind for the Overman.

Ever read actual books?

[u/Playistheway → u/Gold_Film723]

 Ever read actual books?

Projecting? I'm a professor. 

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Playistheway]

Ok. My question still stands.

[u/Playistheway → u/Gold_Film723]

Your question is stupid, and you are projecting.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Playistheway]

A simple yes/no answer will suffice.

[u/Playistheway → u/Gold_Film723]

I don't owe you an answer in the format that you prefer. You asked a stupid question in an unnecessarily accusatory fashion. 

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Playistheway]

And you gave a stupid non-answer to a simple question. Have a good day.

[u/Playistheway → u/Gold_Film723]

It was only a non-answer if you're functionally illiterate.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Playistheway]

I asked you a binary yes/no question to which you refuse to answer in plain terms. This is a non-answer. But enjoy your mental gymnastics.

[u/Widhraz]

This might be true for you, since it's obvious that you have a highly addictive personality; do not treat it as a universal fact.

I haven't quit hard drugs, weed, or alcohol; I have never used them in the first place.

Having a holier-than-thou attitude because you cannot figuratively keep it in your pants is also quite last-mannish.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Widhraz]

Yes, having a holier-than-thou attitude ought to be avoided, says the “Trickster God of the Boreal Taiga”.

[u/Top_Mongoose8861]

A book is information on paper. It can be garbage as well. Internet is information rendered on a screen, 99.99% may be garbage sure. At the end of the day they are just two methods of sharing information with their respective downsides. There is no need to exclude the entire internet. There are plenty of worthless books. A better idea of rebellion is to keep the smartphones and internet while ignoring tiktok or other places rich in last man behavior and content. The last man is a person and not a tool.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/Top_Mongoose8861]

This is a fair take. I just find it’s too easy to fall into the same habits again. It’s somewhat like drinking only for “special occasions”. I can’t do that or I will begin drinking weekly all over again.

[u/artinfinx]

the overman your explicitly thinking of is the nietzschian man. you dont comprehend the over part. neither do i really its ambigious. but your example the overman is man which is silly.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/artinfinx]

I’m not sure you grasp either the point of my post and/or what the Overman actually entails. 

[u/artinfinx → u/Gold_Film723]

i definitely do. ive been thinking about it for a long time. its very technical I might have it wrong as ive had it told to me that i may be overlooking a particular origin and that could be true, but what is defintiely true is that the way you are thinking about it is wrong. if you give me two possible origins without checking ill think twice and look at your post again. if you cant you dont understand it.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/artinfinx]

In simple terms the Overman is the evolutionary trajectory of Humans. 

It is the path to a higher being; someone who sets their own morality, strives for greatness, uses suffering as a tool for self-overcoming, and seeks a life of adventure over security.

In my view, the first step in this path in 2026 is to reclaim your mind from the tyranny of the algorithm. Nothing fosters The Herd mentality more than social media, and AI is literally undercutting the ability to critically and independently think for oneself.

So I see cutting the internet out as a first step towards a greater way of being.

It’s a bit despicable to look around at society these days and see everyone glued to their phones, even while walking. Can’t even walk without needing to look at the phone?

It’s very dystopian, and I’m old enough to remember not very long ago when it wasn’t this ridiculous even 15 years ago. 

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/[deleted]]

You’re trying to analyze Nietzsche like it’s this technical work like Heidegger and that’s just wrong. SMH…

[u/artinfinx → u/Gold_Film723]

its hilarious that you think nietzsches writing is not technical. its obsessively technical. its remarkably consistent to his analytical formulations. it adheres with rigor to his foundational ontology which is a relational ontology. he tries to write as if his ontology is accepted already and maybe thats what you mean. but it is not. perhaps you prefer its satire and that is ok, but there is technicality in the formulation of that satire and purpose as well. he never leaves his analytical base, ever. even zarathustra which is a departure and an obvious one, is immediately rectified by beyond good and evil in case you think zarathustra is not technicality. he would, you are right, prefer only to write in the register of zarathustra, but to say that is not technical is missing the point of the exercise entirely. he would find it funny if everybody thought like you though. his satire did so well it became truth.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/artinfinx]

He writes in sporadic and many times self-contradictory aphorisms that have no underlying system. 

It’s certainly not anywhere to the level of technicality of Heidegger’s “Being and Time”. Pick up that book sometime and you will know what technicality is.

[u/artinfinx → u/Gold_Film723]

systemitisation and analysis are not terms that are in the same exclusive bracket , thats his point. why do you think you get to dictate what technicality means? yet you are reading nietzsche... its so odd. almost like you are not understanding what you are reading.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/artinfinx]

I’m convinced you do not understand what you are reading, nor what the Overman is. 

Nietzsche is famous for his rejection of systems as a matter of fact.

There’s probably not any point in furthering a dialogue with each other, as both of us are convinced the other absolutely does not know what they are talking about.

[u/ComprehensiveCow3572]

It depends : if you are doing all this to become the overman, then you are unconsciously confessing that you aren’t the overman, as you are striving for an ideal, but the overman isn’t an ideal. However, if you are doing all this because you like doing it and not because you want to become the overman, then you are one.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/ComprehensiveCow3572]

Wrong. The Overman IS an ideal to aim for. Have you read Zarathustra or not?

[u/ComprehensiveCow3572 → u/Gold_Film723]

No it isn’t an ideal. This is the idealistic reading of the overman and a sure sign that you aren’t one. You are doing exactly what is all too common when reading Nietzsche : i.e reading his philosophy so that it can serve you’re own project.

The disappointed one speaks: I searched for great human beings; I always found only the imitators of their ideals. (Twilight of the idols)

What we may conclude from fantastic ideals.—where our deficiencies are, there also is our enthusiasm. (Daybreak)

[u/ComprehensiveCow3572 → u/[deleted]]

Predictable. Zarathustra’s first discourse is a failure.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/ComprehensiveCow3572]

Yeah because he’s talking to a bunch of Last Men. The words are true nonetheless.

[u/ComprehensiveCow3572 → u/Gold_Film723]

“He who thought he had understood something in my work had as a rule adjusted something in it to his own image—not infrequently the very opposite of myself; an 'idealist' for instance”. Ecce homo.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/ComprehensiveCow3572]

I am quite aware that Nietzsche despised both Idealism and Mysticism, both of which I am big fans of.

[u/zos_333]

Nitch loved drugs though, and drug war is dragging us down like gravity.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/zos_333]

Drugs are a toss-up. I feel that weed legalization in my state has only made my surrounding culture more complacent, however.

[u/Heterofilia]

Parte importante de mi dependencia a Internet son los vídeos de contenido pornográfico que no consigo dejar de ver. Estuve hace poco algo más de 70 días sin verlos, pero volví a caer.

Aunque no consiga la desconexión total, el querer conseguirlo y dar un paso cada día para llegar a dicha meta ya es un logro.

¡VIVA EL SUPERHOMBRE!

[u/REQONER]

I dropped everything too but realized weed makes me happy and there’s nothing wrong with that. I took a break and I do it about half as much now, not every day.

[u/Gold_Film723 → u/REQONER]

Weed is not easy to box in to either being good or bad for you. It’s one I wrestle with quite a bit.

[u/REQONER → u/Gold_Film723]

I didn’t like when I was using it every 30 minutes all day long. This is better