What Did Nietzsche Think of our Education System?

Recently, while reading Erich Fromm’s "The Art of Loving," I had to stop my study of the beautiful art, at least for a moment, and think about something seemingly unrelated: education. Fromm doesn’t really say much about education in this book, but he gives us the origin of the word and his understanding of it.

"The root of the word education is e-ducere, literally, to lead forth or to bring out something that is potentially present." (Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving)

If we take this original meaning of the word education, one of its opposites is manipulation. Or, at the very least, stifling of one’s growth.

A question arises out of this: Is what we call formal education today really education, or is it its opposite?

Thinking about this question reminded me of one of Nietzsche’s brilliant critiques of modernity’s obsession with efficiency. Talking about modern society, which strives toward a "mechanical form of existence," he wrote:

"The task is to make man as useful as possible and to approximate him, as
far as possible, to an infallible machine." (The Will to Power)

First, we might ask: what is the purpose of turning a human being into a machine?

According to Nietzsche, thinking and acting like a machine is "the first prerequisite for future efficiency in the fulfillment of mechanical duties (as civil servant, husband, office slave, newspaper reader, and soldier)."

To turn a human being into a machine, it must be equipped with the virtues of a machine. And that means that a human being must learn to view those states when one is operating like a cog in the wheel as supremely valuable states.

In order to achieve this, those states in which one is thinking and acting freely and may challenge or disrupt the status quo must be spoiled; they must be presented as dangerous and disreputable.

What does all of this have to do with education, you might ask?

The first and biggest obstacle to programming a human into a machine is the boredom and monotony of that way of life. And that’s where our "education" comes into play.

According to Nietzsche, that’s what school has turned into: a breeding house for humans who can tolerate boredom and monotony so that they might become efficient machines.

"To learn to endure (boredom) and not only endure it - to learn to see boredom enveloped in a higher charm: this has hitherto been the task of all higher schooling."

We are all familiar with how schools try to fit us all into the same mold. Most of the things we are told that we must learn are actually of no concern to us and don’t take into account our uniqueness, our individual talents, or our affinities. That’s because our education is not about individuality. It is about becoming an efficient machine that is just a part of a larger machine. And if we are to become efficient machines, we must, as Nietzsche says, "find our duty" in "objective activity."

However, all of this is not meant to be just a depressing reflection on what most of our education looks like. It is a friendly reminder and warning in a world where there are plenty of opportunities to resist this manipulation.

It is a fact that the same modern world that wants to turn humans into machines also gave us the internet. It is a fact that if you are reading this, you have free access to more knowledge than any human being has ever had. With all the shortcomings of the way modern societies are designed, when it comes to education, we have never been closer to that ancient ideal of a truly educated individual. At least in terms of the opportunity to become one. However, it is up to you whether you will become one or not.

In order to do so, I believe reminders like this one are important. Not so that we become cynical about formal education as a whole. There are still teachers and professors who are having profoundly positive effects on young people’s lives. But to stay aware of the fact that the schooling system is not necessarily designed with our individual flourishing in mind.

The second thing is that you have to actually take action. You are the one who has to learn the things that are available out there and put them into practice when possible. You are the one who has to do the work and recognize that your real education barely started at school, and it most definitely didn’t end there.

Thank you for reading.

If you are interested in my book recommendations list, you can download it here for free.

You can also check out my ebooks, “The Lost Art of Reading,” and “The Gold Pill.”

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