Let’s Reimagine the Übermensch: Creative Freedom in Service to Something Greater

Every culture has its superheroes. There is Hercules, the legendary Greek hero and son of Zeus, who achieved god-like status through his extraordinary actions. Then there is Arjuna, the epic warrior prince from the Hindu Mahabharata, renowned for his unmatched courage and moral strength.

In 1883, in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche describes the Übermensch, the “overman” or “superman”. He represents our future ideal state where we live life fully despite pain, uncertainty and impermanence.

The Übermensch overcomes external constraints like herd morality, tradition and dogma and questions everything to create their own values through radical self-overcoming.

Nietzsche presents the Übermensch not as an immediately achievable state for most people, but as an aspirational goal for humanity, a higher type of individual who has a playful and child-like bravado towards life.

But this idea of radical individual freedom can feel untethered. George Bernard Shaw, a playwright influenced by Nietzsche, added a social and evolutionary angle to the Superman.

In 1903, Shaw wrote a play called Man and Superman. He emphasizes that true liberation must be channeled into something larger than your immediate basic needs. Your goals should serve a community, and a shared vision. Individual freedom must be directed towards something larger than personal gratification to advance human potential, and contribute to collective progress.

“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”

He later added in one of his works, “I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”

Since the rise of individual reason and the widespread recognition that our existence has no divine guarantee, human beings have increasingly grappled with existential questions: What makes a life truly great? What’s the meaning of my life?

Nietzsche talks about courageous self-overcoming and the creation of personal meaning in an indifferent universe. Shaw, by contrast, stresses ethical responsibility, social evolution, and channeling creative will toward the improvement of society.

My call for the modern Übermensch or superman is to find your purpose that helps you move beyond the hedonistic lifestyle that society identifies as “success”. Instead, seek eudaimonic fulfillment, a life rich in meaning, growth, and moments of self-transcendence that benefit others.

In the 21st century, when we’re increasingly outsourcing our thinking and manufacturing conformist identities to fit in, it is even more important to carve out our own path. We cannot be complacent with passive consumption but advance with a creative freedom that’s directed in service of a cause that’s greater than our own.

It’s our one brilliant life. Thank you.

The Female Übermensch

Featured Images: Grok’s version of The Female Übermensch

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