Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Writings from Late Notebooks' and 'Opus Maius (major works)'

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2 ideas

26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / b. Limited purposes
'Purpose' is like the sun, where most heat is wasted, and a tiny part has 'purpose' [Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: The case of every purposive action is like the supposed purposiveness of the sun's heat - the huge mass of it is wasted, and a part barely worth considering has 'purpose', has 'meaning'.
     From: Friedrich Nietzsche (Writings from Late Notebooks [1887], 07[1])
     A reaction: A very nice metaphor for human life, where you might discern a purpose in certain large events, but you certainly won't find it in the myriad of small actions that make up nearly all of our existence.
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / c. Purpose denied
If the world aimed at an end, it would have reached it by now [Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: If the world process were directed towards a final state, that state would have been reached by now.
     From: Friedrich Nietzsche (Writings from Late Notebooks [1887], 11[72])
     A reaction: If advanced aliens existed, they would be here by now... I doubt if anyone now believes that the world has an end. However, strictly speaking, how could we possibly assess the time scale for such things?