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What are the authentic institutions of wisdom in the modern West? Academia is the closest thing I can think of but it is too concerned with politics and the need for approval to have benevolence or freedom of ideas. And of course government has been out of favour since forever. Is /lit/ an institution?
Is there any place that we haven't made a fortress of our own minds and retreated there, except in the most basic matters of life - where to eat, who to fuck, isn't that film cool? Most of us are turned so far from meaningful public life that we are figurative hermits, worse off than even feudal peasants or hunter-gatherers.
/rant, I am sad.
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>>7586688
>the church (catholic)
>wikipedia
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>having a need for an institution when already knowING its logical outcome
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>>7586736
Wikipedia is probs one of the better ones srs
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>>7586751
>but it is too concerned with politics and the need for approval to have benevolence or freedom of ideas
OP's objection applies no less to Wikipedia
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>>7586688
There is no 'institution'.
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you should check out ortega y gasset's revolt of the masses and baudrillard's the end of the social, among other things. look into the issue of mass society / massification in general and you'll find some connections on the death of meaningful public intellectual spheres. maybe also check out leo strauss, seems very up your alley. his essay "persecution and the art of writing" is a good start, but his milieu is sort of "occultated elitism" and may be of interest to you.
for what it's worth, france and germany have better surviving traditions of public intellectuals than the west. more independent contributors outside academia, or at least outside the kind of circlejerking academia that america gets.
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>>7586688
I know but I'm not going to tell you because you would ruin the institutions
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>>7586775
O I didn't actually read that much of op's post.
I got the impression that it was going to drone endlessly nowhere. honestly I tried to read it again and something about it is just awful.
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>>7586804
DUDE LSD LMAO
DUDE DRUGS DONT ACTUALLY PROVIDE ANY INSIGHT THEY JUST MAKE THE MUNDANE SEEM DEEP LMAO
DUDE EGO DEATH IS A MEME LMAO
DUDE DRUG INDUCED EGO DEATH IS NOT REAL BECAUSE NOTHING CAN SEPERATE US FROM THE SUM OF OUR EXPERIENCES WITHOUT PERMANTENTLY DAMAGING THE BRAIN LMAO
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bNHBBpCHLU
I was, tangentially, thinking about that the other day, watching this discussion between Marshall McLuhan and Norman Mailer, which reminded me of that other video with Orson Welles and Peter O'Toole (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smMa38CZCSU).
these were if not prime time material, at least publicly broadcasted talks. ironic, too, considering the political/social climate (although btw McLuhan still seems low key optimistic about globalization, global capitalism, etc). was there a different state of mind up to the 60s or what? more honesty and/or naivete on the side of the speakers and TV channel owners re the curiosity of the audience? more importantly, did the audience demand this content or was it pushed from the broadcasters alone?
yes, /lit/ seems like one such institution ---- or "venue", rather. but, qua public sphere, is it really accessible to the "public"? think of our conventions, linguistic codes, moral codes...all esoteric. saving the distance this looks closer to academia than to a talk in the bar
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>>7587665
dang man you're all metaphysical and shit. blew my mind. as anon once said, we academia now.
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