/lit/ - Literature

if this determinism you're describing was true wouldn't the many cultural and social conditions that have a self-evident influence on criminality not work as such?

What bothers me about people like Haris is not that I do not recognize the "necessity" of dealing with the literalist, cartoonish views of religion out there, is just that their attitude do not really seem to fit the task they're up to.

I mean, pointing out contradictions of a literal reading of sacred texts is something even stand-up comedians are growing out of.

>>5833790

Snow

When skies are sick with flu and cold fever
And the veins of the clouds vitrify;
When the spongy blood-cells of the mist crystallize in pearls
And the sick sun wraps itself in foggy blankets,
Then the atmosphere dissolves in diamonds
And the firmament fragments in flour of frost.
So begins the trembling sowing of the winter skies
That covers the wheat and rye fields;
The vineyards where bunches of ruby tadpoles
And tint embryos get fat with sugar;
The dark sea that spark and hisses with salt
And belch foam in the eternal heartburn of the waves;
The herds that are grouped together to share warmth;
The concrete skeletons of the cities
And the black urban asphalt of the roads;
The houses of brick and the buildings of steel;
Cars, streetlights, parks, churches;
The cemeteries where bones and memory sleep:
So begins the silent sprinkling of the winter skies,
The spectral rain of whiteness that covers the whole universe of the surface -
The epidermis of the world who gazes towards the sky
In vain inquiry and confused admiration -
With the ghost that infinity bled as covers,
The glacial shroud that entombs life in a desert of tasteless sugar.

So there's this kid in my class. He helps everybody in any way he can. I've seen him waste his weekends teaching people stuff, buying books with his own money so he could scan and distribute to us online, giving people stuff for nothing.

The general consensus is that he's a fool. He's always helping and not gaining anything in return. He's either an idiot or desperate for approval. That's basically how it's seen through the selfish, competitive, elitist worldview that is prominent where I live.

I was speaking to him once, and asked him about it. He said he thinks people should act in a certain way that, if everyone else also did, things would work out better for everyone. He said that people who think they're "exploring" him might as well think they're "exploring" wikipedia when they read it and don't add or improve anything. He was not interested in helping anybody individually, only in creating a culture where people did help each other, because just like wikipedia wouldn't work if people used it not seeing it as a collective work but as a tool they've just cleverly used and abused for free, culture won't work if people don't make some self-sacrifices for the improvement of the community.

It was a stupid analogy suitable for an asian kid on a STEM field, but I think he's on point in general. Most people would probably agree. The problem, of course, is that nobody wants to take the first step, because then you're explored by others and deemed a fool. But it's like that Gandhi quote that you must be the change you want to see in others or whatever.

My question is, is this a "philosophy"? Are there any writers who promoted this way of thinking? I'm really interested in having this shaped into a coherent system that I could refer to.

I feel like this dude will make life so much harder to every lonely young dude in the US.

Like people will know you're somewhat lonely and you're not good with girls and will be like "watch out this guy, he can be a psycho" etc.

His laughter is kind of ridiculous, btw. He really needed to step us his villain game before doing this.

Also, he's actually quite good looking and has a car so I'm now feeling rather sad.