Entertainment = Cancer

>>8740521
DFW's main message was that the need for us to always be stimulated or entertained and glued to a screen was pretty absurd, and his work is only becoming more and more profound with the dawn of the Internet and people staring at their phones 24/7. Read that article about how the kid walked in front of a train to catch a Pokemon in Pokemon Go and then try to prove me wrong faggot.

>>8740528
But I agree

>>8740528
the kid probably wouldve walked in front of a train if he saw a shiny looking rock tbqh

kids are stupid

>>8740528
I don't think anyone here would disagree our lives are objectively worse as a result of the screen age

>>8740521
Everything you do that isn't part of the basic struggle to survive is a form of entertainment.

According to your worldview, everything is cancer, your position is untenable on the grounds of absurdity.

>>8740579
Kaczynski pls go

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Who wants to go get whipped? And even if you do want to go get whipped, isn't that your form of entertainment?

>>8740574
I'd say my life is better living now than say, 20-30 years ago

I wouldn't have access to or know about many of the arts/works of literature that I love and spend time learning about

>>8740571
Valid point
>>8740574
There are definitely pros and cons
>>8740567
>>8740521
One of Wallace's gripes was that a lot of the newer entertainment/escapism people chase is out of laziness, or to get a quick dopamine fix, and it distracts them from things they might actually care about and be much happier doing but require less dopamine/more effort in the short term.

>>8740521
>On that note, is reading 'entertainment'?
Some is literal mastrubation. Just looking at the library shelves or the psychology section (le self-help) and so on.
Here on /lit/ you also have this environment of intellectual wankery in which books are simply read because the prestige they have, what it associates people with, and a kind of bandwagon effect.

But let's not fall for the fallacy that I am immune to bias and fallacies, surely I read books to confirm my beliefs too. Heck, I have the opposite: that the likelihood that I will read a book significantly drops when I see the pleb or /lit/ pseud praise it, because of the association I have with those demographics.

This is contrarian sure, however not simply to attack /lit/. But I hope it is not denied that /lit/ doesn't have his own culture with stereotypical likes and dislikes, which some e/lit/es conform to all too easily.

I come here for those few moments when an user reveals personal interests, not the whole "read le Greeks", "lol le spook guy", "ideology man", "wow this book is so deep" echochamber.

>>8740621
elitism is great

>>8740739
Maybe when you can actually back it up. /lit/ is elitist at the most superficial level

>>8740589
20-30 years ago we were still a Television addicted culture, you need to go back further

>>8740840
That's where it all begins

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Bump

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buuump for quality discussion

>>8743081
>quality discussion
>posts vagina

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Which of his essay collections should I read if I am interested in his opinions about pop culture?

I have contemplated OP's idea for some time and reached the conclusion that mainstream media and entertainment is in most cases absolute cancer.

I have always appreciated sophistication but wouldn't say I am that sophisticated myself.
What would a smarter individual do with his free time? Classical music, working out, reading? Why is classical music and reading considered superior?

>>8743140
Supposedly fun thing

>>8743169
Whatever encourages introspection

You wouldn't be posting if it wasn't for this medium created for information and used for entertainment

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>>8740521
Entertainment as you mean it is addiction, overstimulation, maladaptation of the human reward system etc.

I don't think reading fits into that category..

>>8740528
>>DFW's main message was that the need for us to always be stimulated or entertained and glued to a screen was pretty absurd,
no it is not. this some liberal pleb tier thinking >muh improving the people.

>>8743213
Can't Lil Wayne encourage introspection?
''Oh yeah mang get money fuck bitchez is da life if u think bout it''

>>8740621
good post

the whole point of reading or listening to somebody else is that somebody can enounciate something that has been in you put you never stated it clearly and concisely.

living entertainment, sensual pleasures or pleasure of thoughts is done through meditation

>>8743245
>>8743213
So introspection is the thing we are after when we engage in such activities?
Are highly introspective individuals smart or just overthinking everything?
Doesn't that put meditation at the top?

>>8743239
only when you find yourself thinking "why am I listening to this shit? Where did it all go so wrong"

>>8743124
Get your eyesight checked.

How can I avoid degeneracy and activities that are essentially masturbation (easily hit reward centers) - like video games and such.

>>8743381
Awareness is the first step

>>8743434
More details anon. I already practice mindfulness meditation but everything around me is luring me back to the mindless lifestyle.

Aren't there any books that help with this?

>>8740521
On the other hand, you are a virgin outcast who will never experience life nor write anything worthwhile.

>>8740574
are you retarded? go live some in the woods and come back tell me how great it was

>>8740521
>gnawing away at the intellectual fabric of civilised society
why is this bad hehe

>>8743501
Oy vey

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>>8743501

>>8743381
>>8743456
bump

>>8743140
Just read «E Unibus Pluram», you'll find it easily available in pdf form.

>>8743525
>>8743513
?

>>8743456
You just need to know that the stuff is shit and stop yourself from consuming it when you notice
Strive for the difficult stuff, challenge yourself
This goes for any medium
Self help books, if that's what you're referring to, are shit and useless. Avoid.

>>8743767
but the actually good stuff are so tedious and you don't really feel nice doing it

Has society brainwashed me to such extent? I can not bring myself to do stuff that doesn't touch my reward centers immediately.

>>8743790
The longer it takes you to do the hard things the harder it will become.
Do it now or doom yourself to this existence forever

>>8743797
What are good replacements for the degenerate shit I am doing now?
I listen to rap music and play a lot of video games.
But the thing I suffer from the most that most of the time I am not being myself due to fear I guess.

>>8743826
>>8743381
>>8743263


Wrong. Introspection is just thoughtful masturbation. IJ being so long isn't just a meme, he wanted you to dig through it for the payoff. Effort that yeilds results is the only thing you should be spending your time with. Like learning an instrument, working with your hands, or writing.

>>8743885
>Introspection is just thoughtful masturbation
It isn't even thoughtful. People make up all sorts of things about themselves to fit a narrative.
Source: psychology

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What's the opposite of entertainment?
Is this some kind of 'pulp vs literature'
or
'movies vs films' etc kind of thing?

>>8743826
What's so bad about enjoying video games and music? Do you really think your life will improve in some way because you get rid of this "degenerate shit"? It certainly won't improve if you just substitute it for intellectual books.

>>8743497
Woods sound really comfy desu, I wish I wasn't addicted to screens so I could appreciate them like people in better times

>>8744843
>being a mindless piece of shit cuckdrone is good

>>8744861
>mindless cuckdrone
>ends up as a neet loser
>guy who reads tons of intellectual literature
>ends up as a neet loser

So why not go for the entertaining route? Not that its bad to learn things from books, but if you are just doing it because you think it's "anti-degenerate" and not for an actual desire for knowledge then you are wasting your time.

>>8744894
The importance is in the journey not the desitnation :^)

>>8744894
>ends up as a neet loser
your confidence in that being the only possible outcome strikes me as projection

>>8744907
Look at this board. It's all neets. Successful people don't waste time reading books.

>>8744906
Again why not enjoy your journey then?

>>8744922
>Successful people don't waste time reading books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1RJTHf5fk

>>8744843
>>8744894

>Improving your life means having more fun and enjoying yourself more

It's about doing productive things with tangible results. Investing in or practicing something that will pay off later and not just for yourself but other people too.

>>8744934
Tai Lopez? Moar liek Lie Toplebs

>>8744957
>tangible results

Simply reading books and pretending you are now enlightened is not going to give you those results. You need to learn something practical, not waste time reading philosophy books.

>>8744983

I'm not the one arguing someone take the "entertaining" route. Reading books is something to help compliment the way you go about doing practical things, with a practical mindset.

>>8744860
yes, struggling daily for your food, dying to diseases, every day is taken up by menial activities just to ensure your survival, so comfy.
it's ridiculous how people romanticize leaving society and have no idea how good they currently have it.

>>8745000
Now you are just shifting the narrative when before it was about how simply reading these books would change your life for the better, now its well if you read them and do X,Y,Z as well in which case a person playing video games aka the "entertaining route" is probably just as successful if not more than the guy reading philosophy books. Video games give problem solving skills that are great for business.

>>8745022

I never claimed "just" reading books would improve your life for the better. I'm >>8743885, and as I said if you compliment your daily life and routine with philosophy or even just well written fiction you're absolutely going to see a better effect on your life and well being than spending that same amount of time on video games. Can you cite some sources on why video games give problem solving skills that are great for business, and what games these are?

>>8744843
>What's so bad about enjoying video games and music?

I don't think anything is wrong with music, I listen when driving or walking or doing tedious paperwork.

Quitting video games has made me feel like a better and healthier person, more so than any addition I've dropped including alcohol and overeating. I wish I had quit years ago, the amount of time and money I wasted on that shit is unreal.

FULL DISCLOSURE - I did go back to play MGSV when it came out and play pokemon go with a friend while walking five miles at the local park every other day, to encourage him to lose weight.

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somebody called me?

420 Blaise it

>>8745013
There's a difference between going innawoods and going back to the stone age, faggot

>>8745079
yeah and how do you plan to not go back to the stone age in the woods without technology created by your so hated screen age

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>>8745079
>>8745096
yo

>>8745096
Just a home without computers and tv screens is all.
You don't have to live like an amish, keep driving your car and using your fridge.

>>8745112
So why aren't you starting now?

>>8745121
I don't live in a country with homes innawood, would be too expensive.

>>8743381
Quit cold turkey but with the understanding that other activities will seem boring at first. It will require months for your brain to re-wire. During that time try and get out the house as often as possible and give other hobbies a try until something sticks.

>>8745127
Why do you have to live innawood? I don't understand what that has to do with getting rid of screens.

>>8745138
you really cannot see the value of living rurally? I live 15 minutes out of my university town and being surrounded by nature rather than other houses is very comfy.

>>8745013
>yes, struggling daily for your food, dying to diseases, every day is taken up by menial activities just to ensure your survival, so comfy

This unironically sounds much better than my meaningless consumerist life of constant flacid angst and ennui. I'd feel fulfilled engaged and in wonder of the world.

The only problem is I'm too addicted to my comfort to break free

>>8744843
I quit video games a few years ago and I'm never going back except for the odd spat here and there. I would recommend it for you as well.

Music is fantastic as long as you explore your tastes in depth and always broaden your listening spectrum. Don't listen to the same top 40 playlist on repeat or you might as well just stop all together

TV is probably the worst though, does not challenge the mind even slightly

>>8745832
>TV is probably the worst though, does not challenge the mind even slightly
fair enough for shit like family feud and strictly come dancing or whatever, but what about things like documentaries (planet earth) etc etc

Does anyone know how many tv shows there are in the world?t

Does DFW have any good quotations about the dangers of entertainment?

>>8745902
probably thousands

>>8747032
Pretty sure it's considerably more than that

>>8745983

'I do things like hop in a taxi and say "To the library, and run over a TV while you're at it" '

>>8740521
>>8740528
DFW admitted that commercial entertainment was fun, and not unhealthy if in moderation.

>>8748622
lmao

>>8748602
no way

>>8743885
What isn't masturbation?

>>8749033
cuckoldry

>>8748918
Definitely

>>8749033
jerking off

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>>8749882
>>8749052
Oh silly anons I said isn't ;)

>>8745684
>better than my meaningless consumerist life
>I'd feel fulfilled engaged and in wonder of the world.
we have a bingo

time for all you nu-fags to get off mama's teat and be a REAL MAN