Who are you, why do you read, and why do you browse /lit/?

>>9416165
I am a hated/pityed pseudointellectual. I read to learn more about myself and the universe, I browse /lit/ because you share my interests and I empathise with you.

I am the annoying shy kid who sometimes orbits the group, but never contributes anything. I spend most of my time alone, which I like, although I wish I got out more. I wish I could lead my nation to victory atop a white horse, wind blowing through my hair. I identify with Bernard Marx.

>>9416165
Why would /lit/ or something similar ever be mentioned in a history?

>>9416343
we're a category of people who post on a strange forum like this; we remember, even if theyre only footnotes, movements of disaffect youths trying to live

Stories with meaning and catharsis and metaphor are infinitely more interesting than daily life

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I've always held the belief that the only excuse a man has to stop learning is if he's dead, and I'm still not entirely convinced about that. I read for the same reason I do most of what I do, education. Learn a new skill, improve my ability at something, become more comfortable with concepts, increase my understanding of complex ideas, so on and so forth.

I don't think those that record history will make much of an effort to canonize our existence if for no other reason than what we are no longer being special. A century ago, an intelligent person who goes above and beyond to educate themselves could be a popular culture figure. Several centuries ago, that same person was considered a genius and could be a household name, their relative importance marking them as a historical figure for generations to come.

Now, though, not so much. Anyone can teach themselves how to be a great artist in any medium, so those that do stand out only do so briefly before being overshadowed. People can learn complex math, science, and engineering in the comfort of their own home so someone who did making a borderline revolutionary breakthrough in their field of interest gets 15 minutes of fame and a few online articles written about them before everyone moves on. So many random Anons have popped up out of seemingly nowhere and dwarfed the average person's ability in one thing or another that the same average person has come to expect it. Throw a rock in any direction and you'll hit some no-name individual who taught themselves how to do something far better than your typical worker bee of a person. These dedicated autodidacts also happen to fall back into obscurity just as quickly as they're dragged out of it.

There are hundreds of people who could demolish the famous artists of the past, but they're putting their talent to work drawing furry pornography for Patreon money. There are hundreds of people that used the amazing technology of 3D printers to make cheap, affordable, and fully functioning prosthetic limbs for almost no money, and I bet you can't name a single one of them. There are hundreds of people composing intense and complex symphonies, dozens of instruments all played by a single person, engineered together to create beautiful music no composer of the past could even dream of, and they're relegated to SoundCloud and YouTube accounts with maybe a few family members and friends following their efforts.

In short, I don't think we, either as a collective or as individuals will be remembered by history. If anything, there will be a few pages in one or two obscure history books of the future simply dedicated to the peculiar acts of a nebulous group that at some point or another referred to itself as "anonymous".

>>9416410
>Now, though, not so much. Anyone can teach themselves how to be a great artist in any medium
this is what a progressive lecture of history looks like. Everyone, please look and remember that it is plain wrong

>>9416513
>an autistic failure is mad at reality
Nowadays absolutely any able-bodied person of sound mind can easily acquire a technical skillset of an artist and bring it to perfection. Talent helps, but isn't required.
>inb4 muh passion muh soul muh artistic mind
No. Fuck off and face reality.

Escapism.

Reading shitty stories written 2000 years ago by dead white men is as good as it gets to get away from reality

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>>9416539
>>inb4 muh passion muh soul muh artistic mind
>No. Fuck off and face reality.
lmao I guess you think that if you devolved to this you could be as great as the literary genius, less than a hundred people each century, most excellent mind that lived on this earth? Try writing, for once.

>>9416552
>lmao I guess you think that if you devolved to this you could be as great as the literary genius, less than a hundred people each century, most excellent mind that lived on this earth?
That was, genuinely, borderline incomprehensible. Don't quit your day job, that is if you have one.

>>9416552
geniuses* minds*
sorry, too busy being annoyed by you to write something half-decent.

>>9416354
/lit/'s only a very minor part of 4chan (which is itself extremely niche). I suppose /lit/ could be interesting insofar as it aspires to intelligence- but most observers would probably use it as an example of how irredeemable the site and its users are. I.e. even the board supposedly devoted to 'higher things' is a mess of rightwing ideology and memes.

>>9416552
Kek, so I actually was on point with the bitter failure part.
>less than a hundred people each century
There are thousands upon thosands of great writers. But I guess you're one of those teenage retards who think anything beyond /lit/ memes and high school tier classics is 'le trash for le plebeians'. Lack of grammar and anime pictures so far only confirm this theory. If you want to be anything then actually try hard instead of shitposting and whining, autismo.

>>9416560
>>9416552
I was speaking hyperbolically, obviously. Of course not everyone can become a literary genius. You, for example, sound like you have some sort of learning disability that would prevent you from doing so. However, us non-defective people with functioning brains can learn the rules of what make a particular art piece great, then follow those rules when creating our art piece.

I'm feeling that you were holding onto the idea that only a select few could become great at something by means of divine selection. I understand why someone would want their autonomy taken out of the question, it would mean they have no responsibility for their poor performance at something. Unfortunately, we don't have excuses, and you perhaps could learn to do things just as well as the rest of us one day if you really applied yourself.

Why would I answer these personal and invasive questions? Fuck you and fuck your data violence

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>to smart for books or self examination

>Do you ever dream of living other lives, in other times?
If I feel that way I can post anonymously in some place of the internet - I wonder where... Alternatively, I could read, or write.

>a particular culture associated with it
Responses chosen between: "No", "Fuck you", and: "I am superior to you" are not particular, and are not a culture.

>>9416590
>>9416590
if all is about learning skills, why dont you learn to play finesse basketball and go to the nba and be millonaire and fuck bitches?.

>>9416205
>I am the annoying shy kid who sometimes orbits the group, but never contributes anything.
Le ebin self wanky wanky

>>9416165

Because there's a show going on and I'm center stage. Its even better when I don't do anything, and just watch the chaos ensue.

>>9416911
Because I don't like basketball and I don't care about "bitches". What reasons do you have for not doing what you want?

I hate talking about myself

>>9416165
I started reading "seriously" again several years back, and found /lit/ (not long after it was made) when looking around reading communities online. What made me start again was escapism, because I had just experienced something I wanted to continually distract myself from.

I have a fairly content and easygoing lifestyle--it's had ups and downs, but loyalty is my most prized value, and I think that helps keep things positive. I'm very much a "normalfag".

If there's an experience/other life I want to lead, I'll usually try it out for a bit. Not drastic changes, but I have definitely dabbled in a lot of things. I always prefer how I'm currently doing it though. I prefer comfort over excitement.

The biggest lifestyle dream I have is wishing for more money to play around with--but it's probably good I don't have it, since I'd just hoard more belongings. I don't have aspirations towards being a writer. I've wanted to be a teacher since pre-school, when I would hold mock classes for my siblings and cousins on all sorts of topics. And that's what I've ended up doing.

>>9416165
18 y/0 British (paki descent) male who goes to a fairly selective school and who has an offer to study History at Oxford.

I browse lit to keep it real.

>>9416165
I'm an average, black hair, no facial hair, eyeglasses, skinny, 20'something kind of guy.

Escapism and a sense of purpose (I'm quite the avid reader). /lit/ is like my old bar where I sit at the counter and waste time after an enui filled day and long reading hours.

I'm a social recluse. I also enjoy learning languages even if it's a bit slow and I sometimes loose my motivation. Tbqh, I try to be content with living a simple life and avoid the external world as much as possible.

>>9416165
I am a 20 year old guy, all I want to do in life is to learn as much as possible and be remembered for something that I do. I consider myself to be an observer, I am the guy on the outside who is looking in. I am cripplingly lonely, but I like my life, I think. I stopped reading, but I want to start again because I have finally realized that tv and the internet are not giving me what I want. People say I am the trippiest guy they have ever met, and that I belong in a museum. I guess they are right, I have always wanted to be interesting. I know I sound like a pretentious shit, and maybe I am. I don't think so. what I want most in life is to fall in love and raise a family, but I can't picture myself ever doing that. I feel like suicide is the best option for me, but I know I will never do it. I am going to take the next couple years off and work on boats, I may end up doing that permanently

>annals of history
Sorry to break it to you anon, but seeing as your a fan of the printed word, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise:
We're living in the digital dark ages. If one single thing goes wrong (and it will) every single thing about this period in history will be lost forever.

>>9416165
I've got two best sellers in books stores all around the world lol

I am nothing and nobody.