/lit/ - Literature

Does anyone like Alan Watts?

Hey guys, I was wondering if there wwere any good fantasy fiction that installed types of philosophical thoughts. Like The Matrix but with dragons and magic instead?

We're gonna rock on to Electric Avenue...

And then we'll take it...


...we'll take it...


oh no!

Shit I mean, HIGHER!

Just remember that you'll be dead soon with nothing of value to show for your life.

So ill take the get the fuck outs for plebian taste but I'm looking for more a new epic fantasy to get into for some entertainment on the side.

Done the the obvious ones ( LOTR, WoT, Ice and Fire, some Recluse novels)

Just finished the first of Erikson's Gardens of the Moon series but had a hard time keeping interest.

Any recommendations?

My first poem. Didn't mean to write a poem, It just sorta happened. opinions?
I remember... You see its hard to have an original thought. The lyrics of redemption song leaving me with no redeeming thoughts. Songs that I have heard books that I’ve read Trapped in my head. Leave me alone! “Red rum, Red rum!” I scream! I cant be alone with my thoughts, nor would I want to. I’m running out of ideas the harder I think the less comes out. What should I plagiarize now? “you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake” There I go again stealing from mr.durden, when will it end? Nothing is sacred in the mind of the consumer. I am as society made me.

From what I read of Plato, Aristotle, Weber and Mill, it seems to me that they all assume one common attitude: that the ideal way of life is the one which maximizes the happiness of an individual or a society, depending on the kind of ideology these philosophers are proponents of.

I believe and of course (as usual), not without reason, that this is the single most fatal mistake of philosophy. This one error bears responsibility for all the known previous ways of life leading to a literal dead end.

I will try to explain why.

The measure of the strength of a society is innovation. The more innovative it is, the more capacity it has to brush away the problem of continual expansion without out-consuming resources. The popular, Malthusian logic dictates a gloomy ending to any expansion but, such a dystopian future is avoided by equally powerful means of discovering new resources though the defining feature of mankind :

Technology.

Technology (in association with science) allows us to keep up with the incremental population by exploring literally new horizons and producing paradigm shifts that can change not only the lifestyle but also the very fabric of social order.

I come here for your opinion. I like writing and I do my best but I can never really write a long story without getting myself completly mixed up in it, losing details and striving too far from the plot. So I ask you, do you prefer longer stories from the shorter ones, would you rather read a book with several small stories (independant of eachother) or just one story and if possible, can you tell me minimum/maximum size of a book?

What is the objective criterion by which the bearer of gifts knows that they are alive?

As I see it there are two:

1) Being in a state of life
2) Being in a state of sentient consciousness.

Here consciousness simply means a state of being, where one is in possession of their senses, in particular (or rather necessarily) the sense of perception, as opposed to simple vision. What should one do with their state of being alive, is of course the next question. It is not a simple question. It is only asked when the bearer of the gifts is sure of his survival through plenty of food and shelter. For pain otherwise is a force that compels him to see these first and foremost.

I believe (though there is some rationale to this belief) that there is no inherent meaning of life. We are not born to do such and such but rather unto a world that presents us choices. When I say world, I do not mean some entity that knows, but the environs that surround you. They are not necessarily dead or unconscious but they are passive and have their own behavior independent of the bearer. Not all bearers need to care about their query for there are those who are born with the flair of passion. They are capable of finding the their way cleanly through the labyrinth of choices for their path is marked. This treatise is for those who are bewildered at the entrance with the avenues. Does this make life for them less than real? Does it make life meaningless? I would say hardly. For Sentience essentially separates mankind and like from the vegetation or the worms in that it gives him the ability to perceive that there is more than one avenue. A man (what I call the entity with sentience) may then choose through whatever bias he may carry what turn he will take. This, I say is giving life a meaning, in the same way as writing a plot for a novel, he chooses the plot for his life. It can be an adventure or a comedy or a tragedy. He defines it what it will become through action.

(cont)

Lets have a 'my best book report' thread, rate each others work and give each other more reasons to hate.

Post your best book review, be it from school or just a short one about a book you read recently.

heres a few of mine
"Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live."-Adolf Hitler
"words build bridges into unexplored regions" -Adolf Hitler

Hello, Can someone recommend me a book that is similar to Ender's Game? Military strategy etc, not really the sci-fi component.

Pic unrelated

hey /lit/

I want to get a tattoo of a quote and possibly a small image beside it.

Plan to get it on my forearm.

What's everyones favorite quote? Preferably a short quote, the whole needles rapidly entering me is somewhat of a turn off.