- September 12, 2018
- Psychology of thinking
- Yulia Shishkina
Probably every person has heard the expression at least once in his life - “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” You will be interested to know who first voiced this wise thought. But it’s even more important to figure out what meaning is hidden in it and how to apply it in practice and, perhaps, learn something new.
Who said: “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger?” Meaning
The author of the catchphrase was the highly controversial thinker Friedrich Nietzsche. The quote is understood in different meanings, but the essence of the interpretation is the same: only by overcoming significant difficulties, and even troubles, and experiencing grief, will a person become a truly spiritually strong person.
The phrase, however, was taken out of context. Nietzsche did not want to put a romantic, motivational meaning into it and somehow urge his followers not to be afraid of life’s adversities. These words are connected with his doctrine of the superman.
Superman Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche devoted a lot of time to exploring the limits of human capabilities. And he believed that it was the superman who could go beyond these boundaries to become who he is. Let us note that Nietzsche characterized superhumans with a rather large list of qualities, where going beyond the limits of emotional forces was just one of the points.
You can learn more about this topic by reading the work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” Superman (Übermensch) in Nietzsche is the image with which he denoted a being who will surpass modern people in spiritual power as much as we surpass monkeys. According to the scientist's hypothesis, Übermensch is the next evolutionary step that will follow man.
However, F. Nietzsche noted that superhumans are already among us, moreover, they were born a long time ago. He included Julius Caesar, C. Borgia, and Napoleon into this category.
about the author
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, thinker, philologist, poet, and composer. In addition, he is known to the world as the creator of an original philosophical movement.
If we look at the leitmotif of Nietzsche’s works, we will note his new criteria for assessing the entire surrounding reality. He questioned all the principles and forms of morality, culture, art, and social relations existing in his era.
His most famous works are “Thus Spake Zarathustra”, “Beyond Good and Evil”, “Twilight of the Idols”, “Antichrist”, Ecce Homo.
Nietzsche and aphorism
It is no secret that the thinker’s teachings are divided into quotes. The reason is that, being a philologist by training, Nietzsche paid great attention to the style of presentation of his thoughts and views. They are not presented in a coherent system, but act as aphorisms - a laconic short statement, a fully completed thought. In this phrase, the author tries to maximally concentrate the essence of his judgments and reflect the context of the expression.
Of course, Nietzsche did not choose this style of presentation in order to become famous for quoting his words. He spent a lot of time on long walks, and it was also difficult for him to sit for a long time over notes - the thinker began to experience severe pain in his eyes. This is in particular why he chose such a short and succinct form of narration and reasoning.
Past
Let me remind you that she studied to be an architect. If she had studied to become a psychologist, I don’t know what else she could have been taught. That evening I walked her home. We were driving my first car, an old Peugeot 205. And I asked:
- Do you want to talk about it?
- About what? About what I said tonight? David, I love you very much, but I saw a man in despair, and I allowed myself to tell this story. But I never told you about this, because it is the past. This is the past, you know?
How to understand the phrase?
Each of us is free to look for our own meaning in the phrase “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” But still, let's see how other people understand it:
- “You don’t need to be afraid of difficulties and trials, or “sour” if failure occurs. We need all this to strengthen our character.”
- “You can’t try to avoid problems, you shouldn’t be afraid to face them. Only then, having overcome them, will we gain invaluable life experience.”
- “If you feel bad now, it’s temporary. You will definitely pass through the test, transformed, becoming stronger.”
- “To understand something, to achieve something, you need to overcome obstacles, disappointments, pain. Only this will make you a spiritually strong person.”
- “A person needs a negative experience in order to understand and rethink something. Only personal experience of any difficulty can leave an imprint on personality, character, and worldview.”
- “There are difficulties and obstacles that can crush a person morally - the death of a loved one, the loss of everything that was treasured, the collapse of one’s ideals, faith, love. But, if he copes with himself, finds the strength to move on, live and rejoice, this will be his victory. He became strong."
Psychological trauma
Everyone, regardless of their will and desires, can become a victim of psychological trauma. According to research, the vast majority of people experience some kind of terrible event at least once during their lives.
Such as an accident, serious illness or sudden death of a loved one. Traumatic events are always unwanted and unexpected . They occur against will and effort, and a person cannot protect himself from them. However, there are methods that help combat their consequences.
Is Nietzsche wrong?
Not everyone echoes the author “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” Here's how people explain their disagreement with the quote:
- “The more difficulties a person experiences, the more indifferent and callous he becomes. But is it stronger?
- “When a person encounters something that can kill him, spiritually or physically, he needs to become cruel in order to defeat it, not to allow himself to be overcome. So it’s more correct to say: what doesn’t kill us makes us cruel.”
- “Not all the difficulties and troubles that a person encounters will necessarily make him strong. Something will deprive him of faith in people, kindness, gullibility, faith in a happy future. And some difficulties can actually drive you crazy.”
- “Constantly repeating troubles lead to neuroses, fears, depression, phobias. They make a person more embittered, more desperate, but hardly stronger.”
- “The phrase applies only to mental trials. A person will not be made stronger by a cancerous tumor that he managed to overcome, or by a serious injury that crippled his health but did not kill him.”
- “From this phrase it follows that everyone will someday encounter a test that they cannot cope with, and it will kill them. Not a very optimistic quote."
It's important to be optimistic
Over time, the thinking of scientists and practitioners dealing with the psychological consequences of trauma has changed. The consequences of injury are very important .
In addition to suffering and the possibility of developing post-traumatic mental disorders, they include changes in the way the traumatized person thinks about himself and the rules that govern the world.
Three categories of general fundamental beliefs were identified that relate to various situations in a person’s life.
The first is faith in the benevolence of the world and the general goodness of other people .
The second is the belief that everything that happens to a person in life is governed by certain rules and is not accidental.
An important aspect of this assumption is the expectation of some kind of fairness.
The third category, self-esteem, includes models of a person thinking about himself as good, competent and worthy of a happy life .
Photos from pictures yandex.ru
These beliefs are shaped by life experiences among people with varying levels of positivity.
What doesn't kill us makes us stronger?
The authority of Friedrich Nietzsche, as well as the words of his authorship, are so convincing that many take what he said on faith. And they continue to live by the principle: the more difficulties I go through, the stronger I will be as a person. But is it?
Surely you will be interested in an interesting study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California (USA) led by S. Charles. Experts, of course, did not try to check exactly the relevance of the brilliant phrase “What does not kill us makes us stronger,” but decided to prove the fact that negative experience does not lead to good consequences.
In 1995, psychologist D. Almeida (USA, Pennsylvania) conducted an extensive survey in which 1,483 respondents of different ages, men and women, took part. They were asked to rate on a 5-point scale (from “never” to “always”) how often over the past month they experienced negative states: they felt unhappy, useless, nervous. People also had to note how many times they felt depressed, the feeling that nothing was working out, that the whole world was against them.
In another part of the test, the respondent noted whether he was stressed the day before participating in the survey. The last part of the questionnaire included questions about whether the participant had ever been treated for emotional disorders, prolonged depression, etc.
Ten years later, D. Almeida again tried to contact the respondents. However, some were no longer alive by that time, and some did not want to take the survey again. As a result, 711 people passed the second test. The questions in the questionnaire were the same.
A group of scientists led by S. Charles analyzed the results of D. Almeida's research. What this activity showed fundamentally negated the phrase “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!” It turns out that the more often a person ten years ago felt unwanted, abandoned, useless, fell into depression and was in stressful situations, the more likely it is that he currently has a serious mental disorder.
Of course, this tendency is individual. Some people are strengthened by difficulties, while others are destroyed morally. But one cannot deny the fact that life’s troubles, weak or strong, can not only strengthen the psyche, but also greatly weaken it. Therefore, Nietzsche’s phrase “What does not kill us makes us stronger” is not relevant for everyone.
The Harvard Experiment
Professors Erwin and Branderman from Harvard conducted an experiment. They selected 377 managers and senior executives and divided them into two groups.
The first group was told in detail about the negative effects of stress. And that is all. And the second group was described what its positive impact could be, that stress could bring good things into their lives. Then control tests were carried out. A total of 14 extensive psychological and neurological tests to determine the level of anxiety, anxiety, stress, adaptability and over-adaptation of an individual. A month later, the tests were repeated. Naturally, people were separated and did not communicate during the experiment.
People in the group who were told that stress had a profound negative impact had all the visible symptoms of negative affect.
And in the group where it was explained using facts and research results that stress can be positive, lead to personal transformation, finding additional resources, expanding cognitive and neurological parameters, and ultimately reaching a different level of life, there was 21% less stress reactions at the physiological level!
Other quotes from the author
We will present to you the lesser-known aphorisms of Friedrich Nietzsche, but just as interesting, inspiring and meaningful:
- “Superficial people always lie. After all, they are devoid of any content.”
- “I don’t understand, why slander? If you want to annoy someone, tell some truth about him.”
- “Winners don’t believe in coincidences.”
- “The herd is not attractive in any way. Even if it follows you."
- “He who is poor in love will be stingy even with politeness.”
- “A good marriage is built on friendship and talent.”
- “Duty is the right of others to us.”
- “There is a danger of being hit by a carriage for a person who has jumped out from under another carriage.”
- “A man is what he has overcome.”
- “Excessiveness is the best guarantee of success.”
So we got to know both the phrase itself and its author better. Although it is not known in the deep sense that Nietzsche put into it, the quote is very widespread and causes a lot of controversy and reasoning.
