Random word #2: Nietzsche
So this one is tricky, and a lot, but I do think its worth reading (unbiased since im the one who wrote it, lol) but the word is the last name of a philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). In my video I read his quote that Peter Sjostedt-H wrote in, “Radical Mycology.” His noteable quote has to do with philosophy and pshychoactive properties of mushrooms.
Basically, the section his name is found in reads, “Philosophy and psychoactive mycology” by Peter Sjostedt-H. He writes, “the aim of this text is to introduce the idea of how ingestion of such psychedelic mushrooms can open the doors to the unimaginable universe of cognition, a universe that can highlight and augment philosophy itself: magic mycology is fuel for philosophy.”
Now, I chose these words randomly based on which looked cool… and didn’t know their meanings at the time of choosing. Cool enough I kind of hit on different aspects of mycology which was a good variety, but this topic in general …. This can tend to be a controversial topic, so I don’t plan on getting to into the exactness of my own thoughts/opinions on psychoactive substances or the science of such because it takes a lot of smarts in areas im not the strongest in. If you are curious and looking for credible resources that are open and non-biased I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend looking up Hamilton Morris. I am in love with this man, he’s a chemist who is insanely smart and well spoken to where he can break down complex chemistry ideas and pharmacology into like… things I can understand. HIGHLY RECOMMEND MY FAMOUS HUSBAND!
Instead of dwelving (im not sure if that’s a word but were going with it!) dwelving on psychoactive substances and the philosophy of, (a post MAYBE for later? With help of some philosophy people... because its a lot for my brain) I plan to share some interesting things about this individual and try my best to relate how psychology plays an important role in mycological culture. Anyway, science is fun and leads to learning new things and having my perspective opened to different lives that have been lived. So.., here’s this! My effort was to summarize this man’s life in a respectful way.
To begin; who is he? His Wikipedia is loaded with tons of information and works and theories and thoughts and its truly a lot. What to expect: a summary in the most respectful way possible, some interesting facts, how the heck he relates to mycology.
Get ready…
He was a German Philosopher, philologist, cultural critic, composer, poet, scholar of Latin and Greek. He became the youngest to hold the chair of classical philology at the University of Basel at the age of 24! [ Im 23, and hold no chair at any college... although I was the social coordinator in SCNAVTA. The student chapter of the national association of veterinary technicians in America when I was in Vet tech school. If you know me, social coordinator is very fitting!]
Nietzsche also composed for voice, piano, and violin, but his pieces were mocked and described as "the most undelightful and the most antimusical draft on musical paper that I have faced in a long time" From an article in classic fm.( https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/friedrich-nietzsche-composer/)which is harsh… but slightly comedic. He never married but proposed to Lou Andreas-Salomé three times, and was rejected each time. When Reflecting on the love that he did not receive in return,Nietzsche considered that "indispensable...to the lover is his unrequited love, which he would at no price relinquish for a state of indifference,” quite beautiful. There is the claim that Nietzsche was homosexual which is a theory but was also ‘widely known’ in the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society? Although it’s a theory… so riddle me that. He had a tragic ending, basically going mad after seeing a horse beaten on the street (mad respect that he cared about animals) and his mind became very dark- from studying him this tiny bit it seems he was almost too smart, so he always had very dark stances. He suffered at least 2 strokes in 1898 which left him unable to walk or talk. He ended up getting pneumonia and perishing on August 25th, 1900. It is argued he suffered from tertiary syphilis, which was later corrected as a diagnosis of “manic depressive illness”, “psychosis”, or “vascular dementia.” These corrections come from an an interesting article, "The madness of Nietzsche: a misdiagnosis of the millennium?" by Cybulska in 2001.
What’s even more tragic is his sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his writings after he died. She reworked his unpublished stuff to match her own German nationalist ideology, and despite his own writings clearly opposing antisemitism and nationalism, they became associated with Fascism and Nazism. Luckily, Elisabeth’s efforts were seen as forgery and soon 20thcentury scholars contested her interpretation of his work, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available.
When it gets into his works, there is a lot to unpack. Many philosophical writings that are way above my own head, so I’ll leave you with this quote from Benjamin Bennett (2001), “Because of Nietzsche's evocative style and provocative ideas, his philosophy generates passionate reactions. His works remain controversial, due to their varying interpretations and misinterpretations. In the Western philosophy tradition, Nietzsche's writings have been described as the unique case of free revolutionary thought, that is, revolutionary in its structure and problems, although not tied to any revolutionary project.”
BACK TO MYCOLOGY RIGHT --if you’ve made it this far congratulations and thank you for broadening your horizons and learning about someone new for no reason other than to learn! You’re amazing!!!!!
The philosophy of psychoactive mushrooms gets very deep into consciousness and theories of our mind and our being and our existence. And its honestly a lot of psychology that I could not make sense of. IF you are interested, I highly encourage you to look up these few idealologies:
“A. N. white head’s “philosophy or organism.” Or process philosophy. Of Friedrich Nietzsche’s “The problem of other minds.” And again, if this is interesting to you please look up Hamilton Morris he is so amazing but also so informative and really dives into cultural and medical uses of these psychoactive substances in a non-biased and informative way! HES AWESOME!
