"If something is to stay in the memory it must be burned in: only that which never ceases to hurt stays in the memory" (pg. 61)
This quote seemed a little unnervingly true for me. Society likes to cement the importance of good behavior by severely punishing those who display bad behavior. Of course, if a murderer doesn't get put into jail than, people will think it's alright to kill others. That is the mentality. It is instinctive, like Nietzsche says, to think like this. But when I read over the list of punishments Nietzsche describes from centuries back, I was shocked! It was so harsh! I guess if I saw someone stoned or trampled to death I would behave well too. It does work, I remember when I was a little kid and if I did something bad I was deprived of dessert and toys. The "pain" of this seemingly insignificant loss "burned" in my 5yr old mind for days and never again would I repeat my action. Well, that is until I forgot...but thus is the nature of childhood :)
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I was interested in this part too. There are studies now that show that people don't learn well when they are afraid. That seems to go against N. and maybe also experience. But I also discovered as a mom that the kids actually wanted to please me so much that I could teach them more by letting them know what I expected of them. They learned pretty quickly what made me happy, and as they got older they learned what made friends happy, teachers happy, etc. Catching people being good and rewarding them for it can actually be a pretty powerful incentive, I think. I wonder if N. was a parent?
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