What has /lit/ taught you?

Reading is fucking boring.

>>9646302
How to recognize storefronts, vehicles, and street signs. that's about it.

How to pattern match for high culturedness.

that stem is for dum dumbs

Just how generally dumb supposed intellectuals are.

>>9646302
That nuclear holocaust is our only hope.

>>9646302

STEMfag here. From (surprisingly) many good topics here I have quite literally taken my head out of my own ass and gave a chance to learning some humanities (though I can only claim to have carefully read Hume so far). It has opened my mind so to speak, and really helped me better categorize my thoughts regarding things outside my field (which is a lot of things). I know how silly it sounds to say I have learned something from NEETs and trolls in a japanese cartoon style imageboard, but I did.

>>9646302
That I must start with the Greeks.

Haven't quite done it yet.

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>There's more to life than depression

Even smart people are insecure about who they are and they are particularly obsessed in trying to manipulate how other people perceive them.

>>9646516
That's me, though I am not even smart

My writing was much better when I wasn't pretending to be John Hawkes.

>>9646302
That i shouldn't gift books to a date, even if she seems a /lit/buff.
Im so, so sorry.

>>9646686
tell the story

>>9646478

That the literature board is just as bad as the video game, television, porn, political, and cooking boards

>>9646686
>>9646700
Seconded

Always buy Arden when it comes to Shakespeare.

/lit/ is probably the best way to introduce people to reading. Doing it through memes is pretty effective.

>>9646302
That if one gets into arguments with idiots they might win, thus proving that one was the idiot all along.

>>9646302
depression makes money

>>9646686
I too, want to hear this story. I already know how it's going to be, but I'll still be slightly amused. Gifting a book to a girl you barely know is always a terrible idea.


>>9646302
/lit/ has taught me that even people who read a ton can still have a horrible understanding of literature. I'm constantly appalled at most of the things I read on here. Sometimes I wonder if I read the same book as most of the posters on this board.

>>9646313
kek

If you are an avid reader but doesn't write, it means you're a faggot.
gee, thanks for insight failed writers.

>>9646391
Same.

>>9647146
this

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>>9646686
>tfw i used to do this but eventually stopped

>>9646686
rell me more, tell me more anon.

>>9646302
Women can't write.

>>9647594
literally taught me the opposite.

>>9646302
To ignore all pseudo-intellectual rhetoricians.

>>9646313
>>9646367
>>9646516
This
>pseudo intellectual- a person who pretends an interest in intellectual matters for reasons of status.

>>9646302
No matter how good or great I am at the technical skills aspect of any language or writing in general, someone will shit on me, my ideas, my beliefs, my works, and anyone who associates with me "because."

Furthermore, no matter the medium, people hate admitting new things have literary merit.
>Films
>Movies
>Television Shows/Programs
>Comics
>Manga/Anime/etc.
>Now it's video games.
People who sneer and look down on others for not reading X or Y have inevitably not read something someone else has, and that someone else will act haughty toward the people who sneer by sneering.
>Also see: disparity in wealth

Most people online are both more outrageous in their lies and more forthcoming with their honesty. You learn sides of humanity continue to thrive, facets people in their daily lives pretend only exist in the monsters and myths of old.

Most of what we learn in school is shit and can be done in a quarter if not a thousandth the time on your own watch, at much less cost, should you have the drive. Most people have no drive, they sit in a vehicle in Park or Neutral and hang on "for their life" -- both for the entirety of their life, and mistakenly, as if their lives are only in danger in a vehicle; as if they won't die outside of the metaphorical vehicle.

People like patterns, but not if the patterns don't fit inside their limited consciousness and perspective. Very few adapt, and even fewer adapt to grow.

Intellectuals are anything but, and usually the easiest to fool. Academics are the worst of the bunch, probably because they've literally wasted years of their life studying generalist topics -- which is society's attempt at a cure-all for exceptionalism and the modern polymath. The systems we use for the average of the majority "generally" work, in that they're adequate enough to keep humanity working like a mid-functioning autistic child that hasn't yet banded together its own mental forces to improve itself.

Both STEMfags and Humanitiesfags are able to learn from one another. Same with Liberals and Conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, Socialists and Capitalists, ad infinitum.

The average IQ is higher now than ever, more people are literate now than ever, more people read literature now than ever, and yet humanity seems dimmer now than the first lightbulb produced several thousand years ago.

Smarts appear to have decreased, but then we're also seeing a massive spike in nontraditional displays of intelligence -- rap, no, all lyrics in music, for example, may be both the lowest and highest state of mass appeal and intellect in poetry in many years (Mos Def's Mathematics, Eyedea's First Born for surprises).

Everyone has ideas, few work on them, fewer work hard on them, and very few succeed.

There are people who have read in excess of 75 000 books over 20-25 years... and somehow know almost nothing about any of them, besides concepts. People who don't read can be more articulate than people who read all the time.

audiobooks are better than books

>>9646302
>if you greentext you don't have to have a real argument
>you don't even have to read the book

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>>9646302

That I will forever be a nobody will absolutely zero intelligence and talent.

That western culture isn't dying, it's already dead.

Start with the Greeks

>>9646313
underrated

>>9646302
Shitposting that has literary value.

>>9646302
that to always win on the internet, you must always be posting ironically so that if you get btfo, you can always tell yourself that you were being ironic

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>>9646313

>>9649673
Obviously it didn't teach you grammar

>>9647755
I disagree with the school part of what you said, a lot of the basics of physics and maths are difficult to learn on your own without being forced to apply it. Although for humanities this is probably true, I've learnt far more about history on my own than I have through school.

Your first statement is very true though, but I find the fact that anyone will disagree with you enjoyable, since it lets you understand how sound your views are. Far less enjoyable when it's your writing but that's why I don't post my writing on this board.

>>9646302
that /lit/ doesnt read books, doesnt know shit and nothing posted here should ever be taken as reasonable advice no matter the topic

>>9646313
LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AHHHHHHHHHH I'M FUUUCKINGGG SCREEECHINGGG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LMASDLFJKAS;LDKFJLMKAOOHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHALMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO same :( omg!!! :((sld;jfa;lskdjf;alskjdfuck.

>>9650038
Just because a lot of people acknowledged its wittiness doesn't mean you're cool by being contrarian.

In fact, if no one had responded to it and you were here early in the thread, you almost definitely wouldn't have typed that.

>>9650207
uh. i have no idea what you're talking about. i know some people like to XD meme and try to be contrarian, but i actually type like that seriously.

but you don't know me, so.

i actually laughed my existence off from that poster's comment so fuck off, dumb kike.

>>9650207
you're so fucking annoying fuck the fuck off

i'm not one of those ironic posters or le reddit so i don't find humor in doing that pathetic shit. it was for real.

now KILL your fucking self you stupid autist. god. i was stream of consciousness typing and laughing my nonexistent ball soff as i was typing that so go dhelp you.

/lit/ taught me how to be myself. Thank you /lit/. I'll never forget you.

since this is sort of a /lit/ appreciation thread, /lit/ is generally amazing at call outs compared to the rest of the internet. Not just in how but in what it calls out as well. Perfect example >>9650207

>>9650398
>except when the callout is wrong but you've been conditioned by previous posters to think that way lmao

you're an idiot.

>>9650485
it's funny because i meant well, but you guys like to hurt yourself so

be misguided like >>9650398
>>9650207

xox

>>9646302
I am a literary genius, unironically. Sometimes I feel really bad for you guys when I see you trying to speak about literature and give your sad little shallow interpretations, or when I see the critique thread, because I recognize your aspirations and the insurmountable gulf between you and my overwhelming genius. I really do feel pity. Sometimes I wish I was less of a genius so that I didn't constantly make the people around me feel inferior, but I wonder how I could bear living such a barren and shallow existence. It is often quite lonely being at the top, because no one can keep up with my thought process, no one can truly fathom the depths of my thought -- and this is also a sadness I have.

>>9650561
I'm 19 years old.

I am handsome, smart, athletic and virile.

I have a novel that is in it's final editing stage, and a creative writing professor at my college has read the first draft and thinks it's saleable.

I have a girlfriend who is confident, articulate, playful and spontaneous.

I have a small group of interesting friends from different social and academic backgrounds, and I also have many other acquaintances who see me as a reliable source of humour and good company.

Both my parents are alive and in good health.

I have no regrets.

I have already experienced three existential crises, the latter of which was described as having the depth and profundity of a man twice my age.

I am a passionate lover, a sharp thinker, and a trader of witty repartee.

I am not self-pitying, meek or needlessly humble.

I will live a good life at your expense.

>>9646302
that people will shit on you for liking literally anything, so who gives a shit.

>>9650708
Good for you anon what sports do you play
Also ORM on deadlift squat and bench?

That this board is slightly more reflective than other boards

>start with the Greeks
>Infinite Jest blows
>only Kant is worth studying
>Hegel is patrician
>Vonnegut is Reddit
>poetry is patrician
>Joyce was Jesus incarnate
>communism is best
>capitalism is best
>Rand is a meme tho

>>9650711
This applies to 4chan as a whole

The biggest lesson is that you can prove how much you like DFW by hating on him better than the next guy.

>>9647755
>There are people who have read in excess of 75 000 books over 20-25 years
That's 8 books a day.

>>9650708
>the latter of which was described as having the depth and profundity of a man twice my age.
Do you have people writing reviews of your personal life?

>>9650933
yeah, but /lit/s where it was really hammered home.
/a/ was too long ago, /vp/ is just sperging over favorites, /fit/ is just SS vs Legday. /lit/ is the only place I've been where everyone is actually aggressively shilling their own "idea" of "proper literature" not even books they like- just "intellectual" books. Nobody's lying when they say /lit/ is the worst board. It's an autistic cesspool.

Honestly now: no thing will be good without good foundation. I didn't take the Greek meme seriously; now that I started from the beginning, I know that my experience and my thoughts have already been written about; and it's refreshing to find a hobby that I devote several silenced hours to think about myself.
Yeah, narcissistic etc, but hey, you're just a bunch-a spooks :^)

>>9650780
t. accelerationist fag

>>9646302

That most people are too lazy to read and that the few who aren't are very insecure about the effort they put into reading.

>>9646302
Harold Bloom's word is gold.

>>9646302
that niggers and chinks can't write

>>9646309
/thread

avoid undergrads who don't have friends.


dont drink and mix benzos if you're living with homosexuals.

don't read DFW


William Vollmann deserves the nobel prize in literature.

the "alt-right" is illiterate apart from land-fags....who are suffering from skunk/amphetamine induced psychosis.

>>9650708
Inb4 eventual crisis of confidence and suicide.
Also get off my board.

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>>9646302
/lit/ has taught me that if I'm gonna escape from my shitty life, escaping with dead people is better then wasting my time playing video games. I love the discussion even if it all ends in "fuck you you autistic cunt", its still better then upvote shilling on plebbit. And I actually like reading again.

no matter how much someone pretends they can read or write, they're still autists at the end of the day

>>9650715
>>9650979
>>9652454
>being this new

>>9646355
>>9646367
>>9646516
>>9646758
>>9647348
>>9647651
>>9647980
>>9649818
Essentially this.

Also, that a terrifying amount of people here honestly believe that reading in ANY form, whether it be philosophical or what have you, will ever get you laid.

It's fucking hilarious.

>>9646391
hey man, try out goethe, please. please. read his metamorphsis on plants, or something. science and literature really had a beautiful marriage with some authors 1600-1850. voltaire also v good.

>>9646302
I'm wrong to enjoy things. If I enjoy something, not only is it guaranteed to be objectively shit, it also indicates what a defective person I am. Honestly I prefer /b/ over /lit/, where you can at least comfort yourself by saying "Oh, that guy's just an asshole exaggerating things to make me feel bad." Here, as with /mu/, these assholes generally believe their own bullshit about how superior they are to everyone else.

>>9646302
That online anonymous communities are thoroughly cancerous regardless of the harmlessness or worthiness of the topic being discussed.

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>>9646313

Taught me how to doogie.

To start my diary desu

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>>9647978
underrated

>>9652907
The problem is reconciling this with how much people here hate themselves.

>>9646313

I've made the annoying new captcha into a kind of mini-game. I try to trick it by not selecting all of the squares with street signs, or selecting street signs when it wants cars, etc. It's surprisingly easy to fool. About half the time you can solve it by just clicking on a few random squares.

Of course, nothing beats typing racial slurs into the old text captcha. Somebody's digitized book is going to have some surprises in it :^D

>>9652979
This

>>9652846
jej

>>9652907
You're missing the point. There are elitist asshole, yes, but it goes both ways. The real issue is the people who believe that just because they only enjoy pulp it must mean that anyone who doesn't is only pretending to enjoy the denser lit to look smart. Both sides have a point. There's nothing wrong with liking pulp, but you have to come to terms with the fact that there are, despite how much it triggers you, people who truly get more enjoyment out of reading Pynchon.

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>>9646313
Fuck

>>9646302

Men harbour a deep hatred of women because they can't get laid; men spend their time analyzing ramblings of other untouchables to cope.

>>9653688
Get lost, clunge slave.

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>>9653858
eyy a bong. No?

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I think I've become worse after /lit/. Other boards taught me how to lift, cook, sew, paint, git gud at board games, what classic movies to watch, what old video games are worth the time. I'm not sure what /lit/ has provided me. I feel more empty being here. Plato and nitzhche have just made me sad. Classic novels made me realize how I can never finish anything. Sci-fi makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. Self help books don't really help. I think I've become more disassociated with the world. Law school has become harder now, not because the reading is any worse, but the content of judge opinions and secondary text are so dull in comparison to other writing, before I started reading again opinions and textbooks weren't that bad, now it's a struggle.


I unno how to get over this empty feeling, I don't even like going out and drinking with my friends much anymore. I'm tired of blacking out. I'm tired of forgetting both when I drink and I'm tired of forgetting everything I read. I just don't know anymore. I used to lift. I used to have hobbies that would move me. I just don't find joy in much anymore. I'm not smart enough to join the high ranks, but I'm not normal enough to enjoy my friends or strangers.

>>9653977
try meditation and see how dispassion towards sensuality, including thoughts, is the way to stop being miserable

>>9653977
sounds to me like depression desu

>>9653688

men who get laid tend to have a pretty awful opinion of women as well

>>9653986
I've tried meditation a few times before finals. I sat down, set a timer for five minutes and just focused on deep breathing. 7 seconds for in, hold, and out. I was much more focused on whatever I was studying at hand, but maybe I'm going about it all wrong?>>9653991
I don't think so, I've had a lot of friends struggle with depression and this doesn't seem the same, but I wouldn't be able to afford a psych even if I thought it was.

>>9646302
Nothing. I come to /lit/ to shitpost and troll. Everyone here is either doing the exact same thing I am, or they're pretentious morons pretending to be "intellectuals."

>>9654004
Depression is a weird thing because it has different effects on different people. Reading is supposed to be about enhancing your life and not making it worse but honestly it makes me feel the same way as what you're feeling.

>>9646302
no matter what you post, there's always a better board for that.

>>9654004
well mediation is for calming the mind to prepare you to see that ''dispassion towards sensuality is good '', (once the appetite for sensuality is no longer a drive, there is still something to stop caring about, but this is not important for a beginner), with the first effect being the killing of being attracted to thoughts. So the way to do this is first to watch typically the breath a few minutes, then when a distraction arrives, you recall that having the monkey mind, day dreaming, thinking about past and future, expecting things, thinking about your losses, makes you miserable. Once done this, you go back to something grounding and pleasing (or non-harming) like the body or the breath (but at the beginning, watching the breath is not pleasing, and turns into boredom which becomes an excitement for ending the mediation), so stick to the body and watch how comfy it is to be in contact with the material support (like a bed, after a day of being exhausted by manual labor) by relaxing any tension in the body (typically through the muscles).
generally, when the focus on the breath or the body is lost, the muscles of the face are tensed and they must be relaxed)

The most important point for mediation is that
-the joy or pleasure makes you focused (like in any other activity, if you enjoy an activity, then you do not think about hunger, about pains, about fatigue, about the future; the pleasure makes you keep doing what you are doing)
-but pleasures which does not come form the senses is far better than the sensual pleasures (including the intellect), this pleasures arrive with first jhana (people fail to see this)
-the way to get this pleasure is first to calm the intellect [what buddhist call mano] which you do by seeing that having the monkey mind is displeasing and exhausting and you do not stop it by willing to stop it, then by keeping your focus on the body or breath and relaxing any tension
-the way to be moral, like buddhists say, is the first step to decrease the monkey mind [not lying, not building stories, not stealing, not getting into entertainment, sensuality as soon as you can, which is done by seeing that the fear of missing out on social life makes you miserable, and that there will be as much entertainment, opportunities to enjoy yourself tomorrow than there is today, so you can take a break for a while from of this entertainment]

doing this over and over will make the sadness disappear during the cession, even a bit afterwards, but once the mediation is not longer done for good, everything will turn back to what you live today. The way to stop being miserable once and for all is to meditate and afterwards reflect on the source of this misery, by willing to end your misery once and for all, accepting any consequence that this brings [it turns out that the price is to stop ''enjoying'' pleasures through the 6 senses and to rely only on the jhanas]

for instance people claim that being hungry is suffering and that stopping people to feel hunger is to feed them.this is false:
-get hungry
-get displeasure from hungriness
-feed
-may get pleasure form food
-get hungry again and still disliking it
=>feeding is not the way to stop being hungry and being displeased by hungriness

same thing with tiredness. People dislike tiredness, and they claim that sleeping is the way to stop being tired. this is false
-get tired
-sleep
-wake up
-get tired again
=>sleeping is not the way to stop being tired

this is how you identify the way to see that whatever you did so far in life did not prevent you from feeling miserable

same for being miserable

-be miserable
-read a novel, daydreaming, painting, whatever people do
-feel miserable again
=>reading novels etc. is not the way to stop being miserable
as soon as the displeasure, the annoyance, the discomfort, the boredom, the pain come back, however small they are, you know that it failed whatever happened between the two times where you were annoyed and so you do not continue to do them, since your only goal is to stop being miserable once and for all. this is how to judge if an action, a speech or a though is effective about stopping misery

>>9653977
Try approaching God through Catholicism.

>>9647308
>Sometimes I wonder if I read the same book as most of the posters on this board.
Just because it's titled "My diary desu" doesn't make it the same book!

>>9654224
this meme needs to fucking die already

Leftist and liberals are mentally ill.

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that Daria is best girl

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>>9654234
Liberals are. Right and left liberals, which you are the former.

/lit/ led me to embrace truth and unite it with the good I had already found. I had to sift through a lot, but someone sensible reached me.