A Nietzsche Causal Loop Diagram

How to understand complicated stuff through variable relationships and reductive cartoons

I’ve enjoyed cartooning ever since I was in high school. I took a cartooning and caricature class at a local college when I was 17, and fell in love with the medium.

Truth be told, if I could do anything for a living it would be cartooning. First of all, it’s fun. Second, it’s an ideal way to explore ideas about theology, philosophy, science, and culture. Because with big ideas, sometimes words are insufficient.

Take the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. A while ago, I was doing a little research on him to try to understand his perspective on the world. I discovered that, like most great figures, Nietzsche was a complicated man with many interconnected influences in his life. Also, he was quite tragic. While he was no friend to Christianity, I couldn’t help but feel an amount of affection and sympathy for the man.

Around the same time, I was exploring causal loop diagrams, which is a handy way to explore relationships between variables in a system. If this isn’t the perfect way to try to figure out someone like Nietzsche, I don’t know what is.

Out of all that came this cartoon, which I kind of love for being both complicated and reductive.

I probably don’t need to explain that this cartoon isn’t entirely serious, or else it wouldn’t be a cartoon. Though it’s mostly serious. That’s one great thing about this medium—you can be serious and cheeky at the same time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Click to enlarge the image, especially if you wanna see how Andy adorably mangles one of Nietzsche’s most famous quotes.