/lit/ - Literature

Why don't you judge for yourself?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8juL7cdGj40

Where to start with the Wallace, boyim? Essays or something?

>>11048190
Lads.

'Twas only a jest.

>>11048190
>>11048298
>boyim
>lads
>no response
i wonder if there is a correlation between higher verbal iq and higher self awareness, higher digust response to cattle behavior

is it normal for sincerity to ruin a large part of your relationships?

>>11048085
David Foster Wallace is a meme.

>>11048332
I you weren’t Sincere when they started, then ya.

>>11048332
>>11049836
Where do I read about DFW's sincerity memes?

>>11049836
tfw i know that feel

>>11048332
Only ruins relationships if you find yourself with a woman who is not also sincere (which is every woman in the modern west (or east) so don't bother).

>>11049982
>t. incel

>>11049877

His story "Octet" is THE dfw sincerity meme.

>>11049986
I don't know what that word means, but (as Wallace has alluded to) the western (and eastern) mind has been corrupted by an insincere and ironic endless channel of media and advertisement flowing through ones brain beginning at birth. No matter how sincere you are, you cannot project that sincerity into another persons mind without it first being filtered through a coping mechanisms such as irony. Sincerity to the western mind is so alien they must dress it as something familiar in order to register it as a thought.

>>11049924
>>11049836
>tfw friends with classmates I knew since high school because we have the same nerdy interests
>Literally spend all of our time playing d&d, mtg, vidya, and watching movies
>Many years later, hear a nagging in the back of my head saying to me "what are we doing? Do I know these people?" But ignore it.
>Friends move away one by one over the years
>A few more years later, realize all of my "nerdy" hobbies are bullshit, meaningless, and a waste of time. Also realize I don't know any of my friends in any substantial detail besides nerd shit
>They still do all of this nerdy shit
>Don't have the heart to tell them any of this

>>11050025
What "meaningful" aspirations do you have now that have overridden these "nerd" hobbies? Spoiler: they are just as meaningless as your old hobbies, except this time you are stuck with them ALONE. How does that make you feel? Stop acting superior to your "friends" (you're not a very good friend) because you arent.

>>11050049
>t. triggered consumerist

>>11050025
The spectacle is best when making fun of itself.

>>11050191
having fun with your friends (instead of alone like you are now) doing what you all enjoy is not some consumerist plot. Besides, games and nerdy hobbies are not at all expensive or even a big market compared to what I assume you are now aspiring towards (a wife and a family and a financially rewarding occupation, all of which require much much more consuming than simple fun with friends). Also not an argument.

>>11050217
>>11050049

>>11050407

>>11050217
>games and nerdy hobbies are not at all expensive
you are obviously lucky enough to not be acquainted with warhammer

>>11050217
>games and nerdy hobbies are not at all expensive
have you ever bought a comic book in your life

>>11048327
Your post is both ungrammatical and nonsensical so I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm very intelligent btw

>>11050463
>>11050468
Compare these purchases and the overall market that produced these products to the cost of raising only one child (forget the cost to maintaining a whole family). The cost of these nerdy hobbies is minuscule in comparison. If you aspire to raise a family, you fell for the biggest consumerist meme, as that is the biggest market there is (for both providing labor and consumption).

>>11050494
have you ever bought an anime fig in your life

>>11050505
I admit I haven't, but I can do simple arithmetic. What is the total cost of every figurine or other "nerdy" merchandise you ever purchased? I assure you it is much less the cost to raise one child.

>>11050049
>>11050217
>Also not an argument
What is there to refute in your post? All you did was mockingly portray my interests and myself in an attempt of character assassination. I simply paid in kind the same courtesy you gave me.

>>11050569
I know you are used to reddit, but this is an anonymous image board. There is no such thing as "character assassination" here. If you want to abandon your friends and call their passions "bullshit" and "meaningless", then go right ahead, but don't act superior because you found something else to waste your time on. You are barely self aware, so it's probably best that you are alone instead of projecting that negativity onto others who have found enough pity to call you their "friend".

>>11050618
>Call out nerds on their consumptive interests
>Nerd retaliates by saying his hobbies are shit while defending his own hobbies by pedantically comparing them to other interests
>Call him out again on hus misdirection
>Nerd calls him reddit
So this, is the power of manchildren.

>>11050494
>having kids is comparable to having a video game hobby
what the fuck is wrong with you

>>11050494
you have to spend 800+ euros just to have 1 deck competitive in modern magic. that's a nice holiday with your family

>>11048190
Start with shorter essays, if you like then read some novels

I liked Good Old Neon, its a good start to his style

Yes Wallace is a meme; he has substance, but his style can be really off putting and for his longer works most people get bored after a few pages

If you can learn to enjoy his style he has some of the best visions of “negative” emotions in contemporary lit

>>11050839
Not to mention the cost of making a tier 1 legacy deck or playing standard all year round.

>>11050773
You haven't followed the reply chain correctly. I don't share the same "nerdy" hobbies that the friends of the anon I replied to do. My point is that anon here >>11050025 is a shitty friend and looks down on others with passions for no good reason.

>>11050797
They aren't comparable financially. The average cost to raise ONE child in a middle income family is $245,340 (not even adjusted for future inflation). This, I assume (I don't participate in "nerd" subculture), is a much greater cost than whatever nerdy hobbies one is passionate about. At the end of the day, whether having a child or having fun with friends, it is all equally meaningless.

>>11050839
I didn't realize the hobby was so expensive. Still, that is a relatively cheap aspiration.

>>11050007
>dfw sincerity meme

is it just me or does this much vaunted "sincerity" consist mostly of venting his neurosis at you copiously without even coming across as genuine (i.e. framing his pseudo-confession in long, baggy sentences that feel cold and indirect like uncle Pynchie) which he himself loudly anticipates making the attempt seem even less genuine than it otherwise would

>>11051012
>Still, that is a relatively cheap aspiration.
Have you been living under a rock for the past decade? There is a huge marketing campaign to promote the nerd identity to sell these hobbies. Nerds don't just love one thing. They love comics, TCGs, tabletop RPGs, board games, miniatures, figurines, scifi/fantasy books and movies, anime, and video games. These are billion dollar industries we talking about here. Two out of three millenials don't even own their own home, yet they spend all of their money on non-constructive entertainment, lavish meals, and status symbols like trendy clothes, cars, etc, all so they can get regular shots of dopamine when they want it, and they think there is no higher purpose than that.
>At the end of the day, whether having a child or having fun with friends, it is all equally meaningless.
So, you are a life denying nihilist, who doesn't play by his own rules. Since it's all so meaningless, why haven't you killed yourself already?

>>11051155
>So, you are a life denying nihilist, who doesn't play by his own rules. Since it's all so meaningless, why haven't you killed yourself already?
No, I understand the passions of a person and I find meaning in that myself. That part of my post was in reference to the post that started this whole reply chain >>11050025 as that anon says the passions of his friends are "bullshit" and "meaningless". With such an opinion as that, I responded saying any of his new aspirations that anon has are equally as meaningless (following his own logic). My point was actually rejecting nihilism, though I may have taken my rhetoric a bit too far.

>>11051231
>nerd stuff is meaningless because it impedes one's ability to make deep emotional connections with others
>somehow this line of reasoning also applies to having a family which, when done right, involves deep emotional connections to a spouse & child
The difference here is that nerd stuff is a shared interest, and the rest of the nerd buddy is pretty much closed off, whereas the sincere friend or family member may not share interests with you, but will be open in many more ways.

>>11048085
This looks like him hosting his own show on nickelodeon

>>11051095
That's just who he sincerely is. Someone else sounding sincere would sound differently.

>>11048085
They were obvious to people in the 60s. Hell even in Homers time they talked about similar vices people would waste their times with.

>>11050025
Sounds like me 5 years ago.
Find new friends

>>11050025
how do you distinguish hobbies that are "bullshit, meaningless and a waste of time" from those that aren't?
if you don't know your friends its probably because you never bothered to find out or talk to them beyond your interests. the failure in forming deep meaningful friendships that aren't just based on shared interests lies on just as much as you as your friends.

>>11048332
how can sincerity ruin relationships?

>>11048085
The interviewer in this has such a pretty voice and a perfect accent.

>>11051095
you're literally describing the conflict at the heart of good old neon. the main character realizes how futile it is to continually express his sincerity. every time he explains his genuine thoughts, the reader/listener assumes he's posturing his sincerity, ad inifinitum.

good old neon is easily one of the best short stories every written.

>>11051788
kino interview, I always listen to it, sometimes just leave it on while I try and sleep
If only the camera guy didn't make it so awkward, I have to fast forward that part every time

>>11050025
Don't worry, once you realize that everything outside of and not applicable your life and the lives of your immediate family members are bullshit and wastes of time, life becomes way more enjoyable.

>>11051773
>how do you distinguish hobbies that are "bullshit, meaningless and a waste of time" from those that aren't?
I ask: is this hobby passive or commercially consumptive?
>if you don't know your friends its probably because you never bothered to find out or talk to them beyond your interests. the failure in forming deep meaningful friendships that aren't just based on shared interests lies on just as much as you as your friends.
I have talked to one of my friends about the dynamic of our friendship, and he sort of feels the same way I do, but he finds developing an intimacy to be uncomfortable. I asked another one of my friends the question "do we really know ourselves when all we do is discuss media?" (This wasn't a confrontation, the conversation was about technology and the effect it has on socialization, so I gently steered the conversation here to see if I can probe his thoughts.) He didn't respond at first, but after lightly prodding him, he said he tries not to think about such things because he finds them existentially dreadful.
>>11051858
Thank you. I have been feeling more content ever since I cut vidya, tv, and movies out of my life.

>>11048085
>Rating the ideas of anyone that kills themselves

The Entertainment was a pretty common concept in sci-fi before IJ. See the Red Dwarf book 'Better than Life' etc

Bump

>>11052199
It's pretty much exactly stolen from Blit as well..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLIT_(short_story)

>>11054745
It's clear to me that the whole plot of infinite is probably sort of modeled around that story and The Ring which was also popular in the 80s.
David probably really liked that sort of smart-spooky fiction in the late 80s.
Also

>>11051155
>Two out of three millenials don't even own their own home
Literally has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Its like your implying "nerds" buy a bunch of shit but cant afford basic necessities as a result. Its more likely that people realized that the "american dream" meme of owning a home is bullshit. Also the fact that people can afford to buy worthless shit with their disposable income is a sign of prosperity or the disastrous nature of late stage capitalism. Whichever way you want to see it.

I started being sincere and now everyone hates me. What did I do wrong?

>>11054978
Pro tip: people only like sincerity when it reafirms their worldview

ironic detachment prevents conflict, sincerity leads to murder as a final solution to deal with the Other

>>11052199
>>11054745
>>11054755
Also it's pretty much Monty Pythons 'joke so funny it kills you' sketch

>>11055244
Woah, dude. That's a very original observation. Fag.

>>11055246
It hurts because it's true faggot

>>11055286
Doesn't hurt. I don't like Wallace. It's just that you're a huge fag. Also it's not the truth since the two things aren't comparable.