/lit/ - Literature

You found them anon, /lit/ is filled with the greatest thinkers of our time

>how do i find non-pleb people who aren't pretentious as fuck
university (studying or teaching) & the internet

>>11483144
but how am i supposed to support myself with a worthless degree

>>11483166
Depends what you mean by worthless

>>11483106

you'll need a social life outside of your office where you get to pick and choose who you talk to

>>11483188
im not gonna take on massive debt for it i mean

>>11483223
how do i get that

>>11483106
Please don't talk to a beat up post-wall Stacey about Plotinus. That is a great way to be "that guy" at work. You go to that shitty little room and perform pointless tasks for money, not for friends and certainly not for discussion on shit that 95%+ of people totally don't give a fuck about

>>11483106
we need to talk about the bonus situation

>>11483259
>95%
try 99.999%

>>11483240

ask /adv/ or /soc/ or something.

>>11483106
I'm not going to talk to anyone at work about anything that could possibly be controversial or cause offense and thus get me fired. I probably come off as boring because of that, but oh well. You're probably just getting on people's nerves because they have to find ways to avoid your conversation topics.

>>11483259
>>11483264

This. OP, almost everyone you will ever meet, ever, doesn't share your interests. Our interests. Hell, posting on an image board devoted to obscure lit and squabbles over centuries-old philosophers? Nobody gives one single fuck.

This took me literally years to figure out. Nobody gives a fuck. Watch more TV. Play some pickup basketball. You don't want to be That Guy.

thanks guys, i definitely dont wanna be that guy. i just wanna find some cool people to talk with about some cool stuff some cool people said a long time ago.

>>11483106
I've found myself imitating how my professors in philosophy courses will lead discussion for the given day's lecture material. I've had the fortune of having teachers that know how to posit questions that lead to plausible answers, whichever is provided which then will need further teasing out as to what is being supposed as the answer, and so on. So, whenever I feel like chatting over thoughts of philosophy which I know my interlocutor will not have been as read up on as myself, I'll lead them along the same kinds of discursive thought patterns I've had to ruminate over. I won't be overloading them with information, but carefully parsing each part of the info, one thing at a time, to the other party as a means for me to review what I already know efficiently enough, and an opportunity for them to potentially point out any blind spots that I've missed. And that's all you can hope for with these discussions. Explain whatever complicated problem you have in pieces to another person unfamiliar with it, and hope the ingenuity of a fresh, unrefined mind may give you a hand in whatever thought problem you're facing.

Anything other than this is just verbal masturbation. Talk about whatever you know as much as you want, but if that's being done as an end in itself, then nobody can be bothered with some smart guy proving himself a smart guy.

>>11483166
go into teaching

This is a problem I've been thinking about too. I work a job where I do absolutely nothing, so I've gotten into the habit of bringing my Kindle and knocking out some quality /lit/. When it started, people used to ask what I was reading, to which I would respond honestly (unless I'm reading the Ego and It's Own or something that might bring up dangerous questions if googled) but people stopped asking pretty quickly, assuming they've never heard of it anyway.If this is what the rest of my life is going to be I'll either have to get used to never talking about what I'm passionate about or work at a university, which has its whole other host of problems. The best advice I can give I guess is to give up any hope whatsoever and start lying about your interest or to stop being interested in literature in the first place, as it's already socially useless and another hobby might bring you more peace. Unfortunately, being able to have a 'modicum' of thought is not necessary nor fashionable to live successfully in this world. The abstractions of living in the first world will only get simpler.

tldr; stop being a tryhard OR turn the enjoyment of life into how much you can construct an entirely different identity of yourself in your co-worker's minds

>>11483259
>Please don't talk to a beat up post-wall Stacey about Plotinus.

kek

"hey Jennifer what do you think of Connor Cunningham's meontological interpretation of the Plotinian en?"

every one laugh at the wagie

>>11483352
rude

>>11483106
>sounding this pretentious

I guess stick to online forums?

They probably could if they wanted to.

But they don't.

These things are not interesting to them.

YOU are not interesting to them.

>>11483432
>>11483472
im pretty much a normie guys. i'm not waving my arms around talking about despair. they don't really know my power level. i just wanna know where to find people who wanna talk about this stuff.

>>11483106
You're a fucking loser dude. They're your coworkers not your friends. Leave them alone and go be friendless somewhere else

>>11483272
This is basically me at my job, I just throw the occasional stupid joke here and there and just mind my business.

>>11483106
/lit/ meetups

>>11483432
>>11483472
don't be nasty. artists have talked about this sort of thing before. kingsley amis said he taught so that there was people he could talk to about poetry and things like that

>>11483504
Work on your social skills, and talk to people at the cafe, in the library,whatever. A good conversation with someone tells you more than enough about their intellect.

>>11483106
What exactly, in your opinion, is basic shit that requires but a modicum of thought?

>>11483106
I guess start with here if you want to

>>11483504
>>11483563
to be honest though, I understand the struggle. I've been reading a lot of classic works and almost everyone I mention them to either laughs or gets a glassy eyed vacant expression. If my dad wasn't also into philosophy/literature I probably wouldn't have anyone to talk to either

Everybody who shitposts about /lit/ being the equivalent of bumming around Paris in the days of the Lost Generation is unironically correct. Where else, online or offline, are we going to find such a large collection of people who love reading and writing as much as we do? We're all we've got, friends. Until this website shuts down, this is the place to be.

>>11483134
unironically this

>>11483106
>try to talk about easy to understand philosophers like camus and nietzsche
>tfw it takes a normie like 3 cups of coffee to even comprehend what i'm talking about
feels horrible bros

>>11484081
We should all pick a city and move there. If we can even get 10 people on board it will be a success. Maybe even live in the same house.

>>11483106
Why do you think i come to this shit hole in the first place?

>>11484435
down

>>11483106
>tfw philosophy-minded people are viewed as a joke, like the janitor from scrubs
how do you avoid this? ideally we'd be seen like Kylo Ren from Star Wars: dangerous, powerful, and free-thinking

>>11484435
>Maybe even live in the same house

>>11484498
Are you saying an Epicurean commune isn't the bees knees?

>>11483276
>Watch more TV. Play some pickup basketball. You don't want to be That Guy
Terrible advice

>>11483276
> dude just consume and turn your brain off lmao

>>11484435
count me in

>>11484435
Interested

Is there a philosophy discord or something like that?

>>11483504
join a book club

>>11483106
> go to busy coffee shop
> read
> be cordial when someone needs a spot to sit
> share a spot
> don’t be a creep
> judge whether they want to talk to you
> if yes, ask what they’re reading
> may find someone who has an interest, but is stupid as shit
> they’re looking for human contact as well, so they will listen to you talk about your philosophy
> the irony is you are just as uninformed about x topic ; a perfect match.

What I did yesterday senpai reading image/music/text by Barthes. Went into a diatribe on structuralism/poststructuralism. Got his email. Cool guy

>>11485702
>guy
the fuck u doing

>>11485741
Works with both genders ; happened to be an older guy ; im also not going to nerd out about Foucault’s techne/kairos of power to a random girl, especially if she’s not familiar with structuralism. I will, however, to that to an older guy who has nothing to live for

>>11483106
I don't. I have one friend and he's not interested in it, we can talk about movies but that's about it.
So I just suffocate in loneliness instead, interspersed with imaginary conversations with people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prpPH923f4M

>>11485774
I love how you LOVE to use words normies dont use just to feel like you accomplished anything and you're "better" when in reality you are exactly the same as literally any random dude, what a pathetic compulsive mental masturbator.

>>11483276
literally what? through visiting bars and cluubs i have found dozends of people at least interested in basic literature/philosophy. i mean, it probably depends on what you visit and where you live but its not that hard to find interesting people for me.

>>11484435
a /lit/ house would be pretty based too though.

>>11485702
This happened to me once, but it turned out she was reading some self help book about Superfruits, and she was airheaded.

There is a book club that meets in the same cafe, but all they read is best sellers. Shit sux.

I've had better luck at book stores.

No. And I work at a public library. The conversations include James Patterson and Debbie Macomber. Utter trash.

Why would I ever want to talk about literature with people IRL?

Reading is a very private and spiritual thing for me. I don't understand why I would deliberately contaminate my time with books with my disinterested coworkers. I rarely even discuss the books I read with /lit/

There was a bookstore a couple blocks away from my apartment where there was an old, bald woman always talking about Marcel Proust.
I bought some of my favorite books there, including Bolano and de Sa-Carneiro.

>>11483106
>how do you guys talk to ANYONE about literature or philosophy?
I talk with my colleagues who are studying literature or philosophy.

>>11486053
Nice solipsism.
I mean, of course you can't talk about books with people who don't care about them, and /lit/ is a cancerous cesspool, but talking with an intelligent, well-read person irl is very interesting and can provide you with useful new perspectives.

>>11483106
>literature or philosophy
>people who aren't pretentious as fuck

Pick one. If you want to have normal discussions then start talking to people about Netflix or video games. Literature and philosophy are nothing but pseud circlejerks.

I'll play devils advocate.

More people are into literature and philosophy than you might believe, they've all taken at least the 101 courses if they have a degree. Yeah you don't wanna sound pretentious, but you could bring something entry-level into work to read on a break to start discussion. Ask your friends what they've read and what they thought about it. At my workplace there's a dudebro type guy who I never would have pinned for a /lit/ type, but after befriending him I learned he devours books and is far more well-read than me (though I am pretty pleb).

The neets on this board would have you think otherwise but everyone appreciates art. Yeah not a lot of people read anymore but if you're actually a social person I guarantee you'll meet at least a few people who do.

>>11483106
talk about shit regular people like, like video games and tv shows, but sneak some references to shit you actually care about into the conversation and see who takes the bait.

>>11483106
Nobody cares about literature and philosophy. Nobody.

I think a lot of people who frequent places like this forget just how niche of an interest this stuff is. A hundred years ago it might have been different, but literature has been an irrelevant niche medium for at least the last 60 years at this point (philosophy was always like this). Shit, even here, this board is slow as hell compared to the ones dedicated to subjects modern people actually care about (/v/, /mu/, and /tv/ for example).

If you want to talk about literature and philosophy, you're going to have to either go online or go to a university. If you really want to have something to talk to normal everyday people about, then I suggest you get used to conversations about TV shows, sports, and video games; or you should develop an interest in a more relevant form of art (music or film would be your best bets).

>>11484435
Im down - what about south eastern usa?

>>11485908
What ? Kairos? Techne? Those are like the simplist digital units of western language dude. The fact that I DONT use those words in conversation nullifies your invective against me

>>11483289
good post

>>11484490
This is more of a status problem, if you are in a position of respect it doesn't happen like that because I'm a big guy that patronises the illiterates in a fatherly way. Also I'm a scientist so there is more respect there. Communicating natural science is easier than philsophy. I typically am interested in metaphysics, semiotics, mereology kinda topics. I can only talk about these things to lay people using real world examples.

>>11486561
>structuralism
>invective
trying that hard but ending in the most perpetual virginity anyways, LONELY WEIRDO!
Do like me and mask into a normie chad, casual pretentious losers like you are cancer and end up wasting their pathetic life.
Go install linux too, LOSER.

>>11484435
That sounds great except I would just be hiding in some nook too afraid to interact with anyone.
Feels bad being socially retarded.

>>11483106
That's a comfy pic, got any more?

Also, I know what you mean, the only people I ever talk to about literature are my parents and it's always just a few sentences about what we're reading and it's never anything philosophy related.
Only a few of my non-relatives even know that I read but there has never been any conversation about books with them. Even in subways I have never ever seen a person reading a book that would be considered "/lit/".

>>11486773
I was being ironic ya douche, but didn’t want to be so explicit. Appreciate my genius, please

I got one guy at work I talk about high tv with (and got) and we started talking books. Wont see him anymore though because our lives are changing lanes. I also have an internet friend I recently met irl who I met through a video game several years ago of all things. We ended up independently getting into lit and music so that was a pleasant surprise. And we have /lit/, OP.

>>11487399
Lol hes an insecure pseud. I on the otherhand am a confident pseud which is much more dangerous.

I talk to my girlfriend and I write what more do you need?

>>11483313
University is comfy AF senpai

>>11485581
fren?

>>11484435
gayest thing i've seen on this website

>>11483134
>greatest thinkers
>not pseuds who praise shit like Nick Land

>>11486530
>>11484435
Charleston SC seems pretty cozy.

>>11483106
>tfw when you don't live inside the waking life movie

>>11484435
>live in the same house
Imagine the smell

>>11483259
This. Never even heard about Plotinus before I came here.

Nobody outside of obscure philosophy circles knows who the fuck that is. Same thing goes for a lot of the other shit in this board