How does one tell the difference between a joke and something serious?

Was the authorial intent to amuse you? If so, it's a joke.

I know /lit/ will probably react indifferent to OP or call him a pleb but I think he has a point. I myself recently (year ago) started my "literary journey" thinking it would give me at least some added value but I can't help but feel reading non-fiction, and especially fiction if it doesn't have any direct application in real life is a waste of time.

I can't help but think whilst seeing friends and people in my surrounding who are "making money on the side" in their freetime (evening and weekends) have it by the right end. Whilst you are reading "The Western Canon" they are making money, starting potential businesses, studying/learning marketable skills or are on the road to finanical independence. I think I couldnt bear the sight of one of them driving a nice car (for instance) past my house after 5 years whilst i'm still masturbating to Dostoevsky or Faulkner in my living room.

I know there is a thing called balance, yes reading 1 or 2 hours a day wouldn't hurt but the returns on the time invested in reading are just to meager. I personally have way more fun spending a 120 euro's with friends that took me 8 hours to earn then reading a book in that same time. Yes, I work 40 hours a week and yes I earn a good living but I feel striving for a more "Bilzarian" lifestyle (with the lack of a better example) by being more enterprising in your free time in the end is more fullfilling then becoming a "literary/wise/knowledgable" type like Bloom or Wallace.

*excuse me for my grammar

Haha, yeah.

>>9285055
you seem to be thinking of reading as an end, to making you some kind of type of person or to find yourself in some kind of situation
perhaps you should read what you want to read, and if you think there is information that would benefit your life in some way, you have to put your mind to applying it too, not just conceptualising it
a religious man may know all the precepts of his religion, but to put them into action in his life is a very different task from merely learning them

>>9285050
intent.
literally stop being autistic and it becomes obvious.

>>9285125

Some people purposefully obscure their intentions.

I've been browsing /sci/ and a lot of what I read there is hilarious, but it's making jokes and non-jokes indistinguishable. Seriously. I detect facetiousness in every post on 4chan even when anons tell me they're serious. I feel like a schizophrenic.

It's not too serious and I'm enjoying this weird experience, but I'd like the ability to turn it off.

>>9285055

>but I feel striving for a more "Bilzarian" lifestyle (with the lack of a better example) by being more enterprising in your free time in the end is more fullfilling then becoming a "literary/wise/knowledgable" type like Bloom or Wallace.

No one can help you then. Go snort your coke and fiddle with your dick.

>>9285152
nah it's actually quite obvious if you're socially adjusted. talk to people in real life you'll get better at it.
i might be wrong but my guess is you've been reading and entertaining lots of meta troll posts. just realize they're operating on some internal logic which is literally what schizos do, avoid them like the plague.