/lit/ - Literature

The whole existential crisis is borne out of the disparity between an internalization of the world - how we believe the world should be - and the reality of nature as it actually is perceived.

Be more like Heraclitus - ''the path up is the path down'

>>3573433
> how we believe the world should be
Do you agree that this comes from the ego?

>the path up is the path down
i have never understood this, I thought he wanted to show us the value we give to things depends on our perspective

>>3573443
How can something come from anything but an ego, moran?

>>3573455
intuition

>>3573412
That whiny faggot proposed the dissolving of the self to achieve a state free of suffering long before you did. Other than that I agree in the sense that all human problems aside from physical pain are feedback issues that can be resolved. As Schoppy said:

“Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom”.

Or as Pascal put it:

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."

If we can manage to satisfy our basic desires with a minimal amount of hassle and if we can learn to be content with having little, we reach a state of absence of pain (aponia) and absence of mental fetters (ataraxia) according to Epicurus. Now apart from boredom, other reasons that we can't just sit quietly in a room are vanity, greed etc. A lot of which stems from what you call the ego. Of course the shortcut to virtue is Cynicism. You just outright abandon all the things you don't need and deliberately train yourself to endure hardship and ridicule. Apart from asceticism the Cynics practised what in some forms of therapy today would be called shame attacking where you deliberately put yourself in shameful situations to reduce the anxiety it produces, thereby lessening the grips of society on you. Once you're okay with the life of poverty, ridicule and hatred and learn to be content in this, there's really not much life can throw at you that you can't handle, leading to great peace of mind.

Why is this board so obsessed with existentialism?

>>3573574
You already know the answer, and if you don't, just try to think a little harder.

>>3573574
Because existence precedes essence, silly.

>>3573572
thanks for your response, got some new things to read and apply. Thank you

(I think I knew it already but my ego wanted confirmation, reassurance)

In a nutshell, it arises because we become attached to things which are impermanent. As Heraclitus said, you can't step into the same river twice, but most people live as if they could own the river. Of course, the ego is just like the river, and when we become attached to a false sense of self, that also causes difficulties. The way out is to find a set of practices that allows to tune your mind to the flowing of the world and brings about nekkhama/ataraxia.

>>3573588
My pleisure. This is a great source to begin when looking into Greek philosophy (Cynics and Epicureans to be found under Hellenistic): http://www.historyofphilosophy.net/

And here are some works on Cynicism: http://www.mediafire.com/?zp2ppnxjwj28c

I'm new to /lit/ so I'm not trying to pass judgment here, but I don't quite see how this is related to literature, obviously philosophy and literature are very closely linked and all, so having a literary discussion without going into philosophy would be weird... But, this doesn't seem to have any link to literature at all?

And in re: to your question, I'd question whether its possible for a human to exist devoid of the ego and if so whether an ego-less human would even be recognisable as a person.

>>3574316
Lurk more.

>>3573412
Read this.
http://bookos.org/book/779341

>>3574316
are you seriously asking how is the question of the ego related to literature at all?
you must be very new to literature, or someone who only reads scifi

>>3573412
>the cause

>claims no ego
>in the name of causality

wikipeadiafag detected

>>3574316

Hey guys, didn't read the thread so this is probably unrelated.

I really want to fuck this Muslim chick whom I work with, but the problem is that i'm an anti-idealist egoist. She's the typical ragamuffin scum, but i really want to smash her cunt. Are my only options to accept Islam or rape her? Suggestions? Jail or religion aren't preferred as I would like to continue my self worship.

>>3573574
>existentialism

Existentialism is used here as an excuse for vanity.

It's dog-whistling for young angst white males, or persons 'white' and bitter enough. Existentialism's historic emergence and actual material has little resemblance to what is implied when the term is discussed here. There are flashes of quotes, authors, or books, but mostly a immature understanding of the material, or a misappropriation of it [1]. On /lit/ it is used for insinuating the disappointments and disgust you have about something or some people--it's about venting all that moral ambiguity that upsets and confuse an Anon from a privileged demographic.

Existentialism is a word used to secretly signal: "I am a philisteenager."

1.The example here would be the usage of the word ego. Notice no working definition is given, and yet it is assumed to birth a existential crisis. No definition is given to existentialism here either to connect the two. This makes any discussion futile, because there is no common ground to work with. At first the word ego is given to imply a greedy self worth, but in later posts the word is smushed with intuition, basic desires, attachment, etc. All of these things make the term 'ego' a slippery slope--its connotation shift to what ever the anon wants (ironic). So, while the posts are written egotistically, they are not really about discussing ego, or existentialism for that matter. There is something else that is being promulgated here instead.

"...vanity of vanities; all is vanity"
~Ecclesiastes 1:2

>>3574640
Fuck you. I went to pirate the Death Grips album and my computer fucking crashed, so I totally had an existential crisis. life's so shit sometimes.

>>3573544
intuition is not ego? you are more retarded than i thought

>>3574316
Never heard of a vegetative state?
fuck off to >>>/rebbit/ newfag

>>3574611
>obsessed over some girl
>calls himself an egoist

>>3574675
by intuition, i think he's referring to an understanding which does not appear to come from anything empirical. some people feel that 'understanding' is distinct from 'knowledge.' since korzybski is trending lately, you should check out hizshit and then perhaps see that what you call "retarded" is simply another perspective.

>>3574611
If you take that religion to fuck her it would be an egoistic act since it would be just on the surface. Otherwise I have some bad news for you: You have ideals.

>>3574742
Love / desire to fuck is perfectly compatible with Stirnerist egoism, what are you on about?

>>3574763
>understanding which does not appear to come from anything empirical
oxymoron

_you_ can never escape ego
gettit? you? ego? basically synonyms

>>3574763
>i think he's referring to an understanding which does not appear to come from anything empirical.

No shit. Explain how can any understanding on anything be without ego, seeing how the motivation to understand is from the ego wanting to understand?

You're right about being too quick to use "retarded", when, in your case, it better to use" "fucking idiot"

>>3574800
>oxymoron
>gnosis

>>3574640
when all you read is third wave feminism no wonder nothing's defined for you

read a fucking book, pleb

>>3574640

So /lit/ is confused with whiny, uncommitted youngsters who want to "wear" philosophies?

>>3574640

So /lit/ is full of whiny, uncommitted youngsters who wish to "wear" philosophies because they're in want of identity?

For the argument >>3574640

I give you Exhibit A: >>3574825
>read a fucking book, pleb

Something has disturbed this philsteenager, to lash out with prejudicial assumptions.

We have to remember the worst thing with the people here is the fear from pulling back the curtain and questioning, or analysing the implicit. Nobody here wants to reflect with some sobriety--it angers them and scares the shit out of them.

>>3574904
all those useless words and all I see is butthurt, pretentious hipster

>>3574742
slightly related, i introduced a girl to stirner about two months ago and she never spoke to me again

don't try it guys, not even once

Exhibit B: >>3574947

>>3574799
Not to the point of obsessing about some unattainable girl and jumping through hoops to get at it, sacrificing yourself as a slave to your desire. Stirner was ascetic as fuck by the way.

>>3574988
They're generally more into Sade.

>>3575040
holy shit, calm your asscheeks, princess, I am still investigating exhibit 1, your mom's withered vag

>>3575056
>They're generally more into Sade.
I actually have multiple examples of this being true. Girls go crazy for the Marquis.

Exhibit C: >>3575083

>>3575090
Same here.

>>3575180
looks like you had a twin sister that got lost in the plumbing, my condolences, make that an exhibit d (d stands for ded baby)

Exhibit D: >>3575276

Thanks for not helping. i really want to put my dick in this girl.