/lit/ - Literature

Bion of Borysthenes' brand of Cynic Cyrenaic opportunist lulzy proto-Stirnerism.

>>3696351
"If he felt desire for Alcibiades and abstained, he was a fool; if he did not, his conduct was in no way remarkable."

>epicureanism too tame
>cyrenaicism too wild
>cynicism too austere
>stoicism too bourgeois

What's a man to do?

>>3559036
My nigga.

4chan is mostly decadent faggots, they can into modern snide remark cynicism but not in capital C glorious poorfaggotry of the Gods.

I associate most with Bion because of opportunist eclecticism. I can find myself in the generous dash of Cyrenaicism he adds to Cynicism. I admire the Dogfather himself the most, but Crates is also great in that warm hearted smiling sense.

So you want to overcome nihilism. You basically have the choice between religious existentialism, atheist existentialism, absurdism and scepticism. I'd classify myself as a life affirming sceptic if I had to. While I don't belief in any form of meaning, life seems perfectly enjoyable without those. It's worth it in its own right. Then again, I have no real intention of striving towards glory. You should probably check with our local Nietzscheans for that. Also, there's a nice image some anon made about the whole nihilism thing. I suggest you request it.

As for myself, I just bum around as I please doing not much of anything and exactly what I want letting my actions and views form organically from my inner deliciousness. Kinda like Bion of Borysthenes, I like to think. He's not my favourite philosopher, but the one I identify the most with.

>>3503720
Because I'm an eclectic Hellenist.

>>3485358
Going on welfare best day of my life. I've been happy ever since.

>>3434009
My friends and family have pretty much accepted that I'm a workshy rascal that doesn't plan on doing anything worthwhile with his life. I guess most even sort of appreciate it. With women its much the same, although you won't get as much of them seeing you as a serious lifesharing canditate. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. I'm quite happy as it is. I enjoy being by myself. Any relationship beyond friendship will quickly end up with people expecting services, I've found. There isn't really any 'coping' really, I just seek company when I want to and don't when I don't.

I keep myself from being depressed by living such a carefree life. Depression comes when I have to do things I don't want to do. Like being a good employee/citizen/boyfriend etc. As long as I can keep myself relatively unshackled I'm fine.

>>2935281
Yes, usually a bit and sometimes a lot, but I often take breaks where I go days or weeks without, because I refuse to be dependant on more substances than needed.

>mfw statistics point out that 99,99% of human problems are the result of needless clinging to arbitrary matters

>>2844686
>believing life functions as a videogame with your little self floating around to new levels if you play in a certain way
>believing in the self at all

Such vanity.

I don't really have hobbies. Reading bores me most of the time these days. I spend some time online browsing and researching certain interests but that doesn't really captivate me either. I'm actually pretty much done with most media, but when I leave them alone I feel a little abandoned.

So I'm trying to get used to the quietness and mental rest of not engaging in such entertainment. I'm trying to become a bit of a dog. I take pleasure in eating and drinking and sleeping and walking around and laying in the sun and fucking and masturbating though. Those things are always nice. I'd like to get a bit more healthy and wiry and tan and hard and all that. Take my asceticism to the next level. Diminish my possessions even more as well.

I've always despised "hobbies" as a concept. It devaluates certain experiences as something less than work and less than play.It really evokes an imagine of utterly mundane and sad little men toying around with miniature railways or something like that. Paradoxically, admitting to having hobbies seems to me in some way admitting to have an empty life. They always seem like activities to fill the time, instead of working on one's life as a whole.

I might take up writing again though. I feel I have something to say, but I'm not quite sure what it is yet.

>tfw you've always felt sort of "off" but not enough to really run with it and get to live in a crazy people house without having to work

>>2808367
You do meet a lot of dumb fucks who like dumb media, and you also get a lot of immensely pretentious but often still dumb fucks consuming the good stuff. It's all too shaky to judge someone by it though. That's why I rather judge people by what they actually do and how they justify those activities. I do think the literature consumption of a potential partner to be absolutely frivolous compared to plenty of other things.

>>2808414
I never denied that people with interesting interests can't be good people. I merely protest against judging people by their preferred flavour in consumed media. I don't find anything wrong with high brow culture, but let's not judge a doctor who does pro bono work because he likes to bust out a crip walk after a few forties instead of sitting at the opera.

It's also mostly the people who are otherwise a vacuum personality-wise who feel the most inclined to identify themselves by what culture they consume. Hence bandshirts.

>>2722461
Jokes on you, I don't have a TV myself. Or a facebook, twitter, pininterest, tumblr or anything of the sort.

>>2711007
Presocratics are great, but a summary will do. Pay much attention to Parmenides and Heraclitus.

Then of course Plato and Aristotle, but I find them to be cunts mostly. Hellenistic philosophy is where it becomes interesting, although the sophists are cool too.

Cynicism, Cyrenaicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Scepticism, that sort of thing. This is the type of stuff that can keep a man occupied for years.

>>2662864
I dropped out of studying literature because their excessive systematic autopsy of glorious works of art made me hate literature and anything to do with it. I started disliking reading and writing, discussing books, et cetera. One day in the midst of picking the corpse of some poem and labeling its sentences according to some awful scheme I simply walked out and never returned. Studied philosophy after that, which wasn't much better.

That said, in both cases there were plenty of people who genuinely liked it. They we're also horrible people. Not that they weren't nice, but they were boring to the point of it being painful. My advice would be, if you love something, don't study it academically. It kills every feel. In all honesty I would rather go to prison than set foot in a humanities department again. They're mostly just scavengers who feed on the creations of their betters.

Now I'm a useless neet looking for a minimum wage job, but I'm happier than I've ever been during any form of official education. I'm even beginning to get some of my creativity back.

Do note that I merely represent an extreme and most people will most likely not identify at all with what I just wrote. I've always hated schooling to the point of it actually making me feel either suicidal or violent.

>>2657193
Also living very simply and don't doing much interesting stuff. I like them, but sometimes I like the Cyrenaics more.

It's a very hard question OP, I like all Hellenistic philosophy basically. I'm a sceptic at heart, but I don't seek the quiet life in the way Pyrrho advised. I'm a poorfag by choice and live with very few possesions, but not really on the level of an actual Cynic. Epicureanism is a bit too mild, the Cyrenaics can perhaps be too decadent, although I'm not really sure about that. Stoics have great literature and wisdom, but their overall system seems flawed to me. I combine elements of them all, among other things, but if I would have to choose I would probably say Cyreniac. It's the most justifiable, since it can contain my doubtfag and poorfag elements by stating that this way of life gives me the most pleasure.

I guess out of them all I identify the most with Bion of Borysthenes. He was somewhat of an eclectic character, a Cyreniac Cynic, atheist and general rascal.