Human, All Too Human Metaphors and Similes

Human, All Too Human Metaphors and Similes

“Primitive ages of Mankind” - “Dream and Civilization.”

Nietzsche explains, "The function of the brain which is most encroached upon in slumber is the memory; not that it is wholly suspended, but it is reduced to a state of imperfection as, in primitive ages of mankind, was probably the case with everyone, whether waking or sleeping. Uncontrolled and entangled as it is, it perpetually confuses things as a result of the most trifling similarities, yet in the same mental confusion and lack of control the nations invented their mythologies, while nowadays travelers habitually observe how prone the savage is to forgetfulness, how his mind, after the least exertion of memory, begins to wander and lose itself until finally he utters falsehood and nonsense from sheer exhaustion." Slumber elicits memoirs of the past. Some of the manifestations in the dreams are errors which result in confusion and various hallucinations. The mind is not absolutely perfect. In some cases it elicits vivid dreams which taint reality. Sleeping permits human beings to undertake pilgrims into the past.

Ship - “Intoxicated by the Perfume of Flowers”

Nietzsche writes, “The ship of humanity, it is thought, acquires an ever deeper draught the more it is laden. It is believed that the more profoundly man thinks, the more exquisitely he feels, the higher the standard he sets for himself, the greater his distance from the other animals—the more he appears as a genius (Genie) among animals—the nearer he gets to the true nature of the world and to comprehension thereof: this, indeed, he really does through science, but he thinks he does it far more adequately through his religions and arts. These are, certainly, a blossoming of the world.” All human beings metaphorically comprise of a ship which is governed by “religions and arts." The ship is occupied by beings whose intelligence is superior to that of other creatures. Innovations in science and artistic investments are contributory in the sailing of the ship.

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