The Heaviest Burden

In class on Tuesday, we discussed the selection from Nietzsche’s Gay Science. I was really intrigued by the segments we read and talked about, especially “The Madman” and our discussion about what it means for God to be dead. But, the second segment we discussed at length, “The Heaviest Weight,” is still problematic for me.

This parable in Gay Science is about being asked if you would live your life over and over, infinitely and for all of eternity, exactly as it has happened, including that moment when the offer is posed. This parable represents the “eternal recurrence of the same,” which is one of Nietzsche’s main themes, along with the “transvaluation of all values.” For most people, Nietzsche claims, would view this proposition as the heaviest weight or burden. By agreeing to this eternal recurrence, we are committing ourselves to a life in which we can never change or escape, and actually have no free will. This whole idea, therefore, calls into question our presumption of freedom in the first place. How do you know this is the first time you have been propositioned thusly? Is this your original life, or your third, tenth, hundredth time through? Nietzsche argues that people who feel this heaviest burden and would be inclined to say no are the weak, the proverbial “no-sayers” – slaves to the Western moral philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and such that have taught us to say “no” to our nature, instinct, and drives. This no-saying weighs us down and prevents us from truly experiencing life and joy. The strong, according to Nietzsche, reject this and become “yes-sayers,” who accept their Will to Power/Life, and would therefore agree to the proposition.

Nietzsche would call me weak. He would say I was a no-sayer, a lamb. But I do not think I would accept the offer. Why wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, I say “yes” to life? Maybe if the question was posed when I was younger, or would be asked years from now, I might agree. But now, or even six months ago, I would have never agreed to such a thing. I know we all have regrets in life, things we would like to change, redo if we could. But this is a life with no do-overs, only “do-agains.” I spoke with Dr. J about this parable after class, and she said that Nietzsche would argue that pains decrease in time, after living your life so many times. But I think there are pains that won’t decrease, situations that will never hurt less over time. And while I am selfish enough to say that, as I think many people would, I would probably want to live forever…the heaviest burden parable isn’t the same as that. You are born and die every time – not one long, continuous line but countless, identical segments. I know that I can’t add qualifications to Nietzsche’s proposition like with the Trolley Problem: I can’t assure that my future self will know it’s a repeat, I can’t give myself freedom to deviate from the set path. And that’s why I don’t think I could agree, and would definitely feel that heaviest burden. Does that make me a no-sayer, one who shuns life for what it truly is? Maybe. But maybe choosing this one life, knowing that it’s all I will have, is life-affirming in a different way.

I’m interested to hear what other people have to say about this parable, and what you would chose.