/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10905662]

Guys, intellectually I'm all spooked out. I can't stand philosophy because of all the unfalsifiable garbage. Many fields like economics etc are just applied common sense and stamp collecting. I see novels as nothing but entertainment despite pretentious people claiming life / philosophical insights and tonnes of people will consider you a disgusting plebeian if you don't initially read shitloads of boring as fuck canon novels.

I think I am painfully adapting to the idea of the Internet age / information overload by abandoning any pretension that I can be an all rounder or even dilettante in everything. There are ten trillion books called "Introduction to [broad and important field]", even if you only have one of each field.

History is similar to novels. Shitloads of reading along with a shitload pretension thrown on top telling you that you truly cannot no nuthin unless you have an in depth understanding of the Greeks / Romans / Christianity / USA / WW1 / WW2 / financial systems / or shitloads of other topics I can't stand it. And then there's current events. I don't care about climate change, outer space, inequality, China, the EU, applied psychology, the education system, diversity, Russia, South America, refugees, nutrition, mental health, and more. Admitting just one of these would make me an iredeemable idiot, no doubt.

Has anyone else had similar thoughts? The spooks are powerful and must be removed but their removal leaves your mind in a promordial state that is more susceptible to spooks than before.

I go to the city centre and see people shopping and the streets are busy, which is comforting compared to when they're empty, but walking through then brings no epiphanies.

I am so past watching movies or tv shows, even ones that pander to "edgy" young males. I just about read books but only because society tells me I should, though I don't derive much enjoyment

And obviously I have an existential crisis but /lit/ is fucking pathetic in demanding that anyone who has one should immediately "grow up" and become a monotheist and wagecuck. I fucking hate wagecucking. Seeing attractive young people is humiliating. I tell myself every day that I'll soon work intensely on one thing but I can't bear to do this. If you're really good at one thing then there are people lining up to call you a tard for not watching opera or being able to run a marathon or whatever shit. So I do nothing.

Every "thinker" is at their core an utter fucking fraud. Nietzche is a Tony Robbins tier Rorschach test. Science and mathematics provide non trivial insights but only in ultra specialised ways that probably require autism to appreciate. I listen to In Our Time podcasts and Bret Easton Ellis podcasts and I think at heart everyone cares about nothing more than social drama.

I think we all need to man up and admit that money, youth, videogames, and good looks are as good as it gets. But not everyone gets.

[Anonymous No.10905673]

Fuck off with your nihilism faggot.

[Anonymous No.10905677]

>>10905673
Manchild aggression

[Anonymous No.10905682]

>>10905662
think globally act locally

[Anonymous No.10905684]

Yes you are spooked, by your cultural upbringing and surroundings. Try travelling to somewhere non western and as foreign as possible, like India, China, indonesia, maybe Africa. Learn their language and try to understand the way they think, avoid other white people or English speakers. You'll see everything you are talking about now is just culturally bound and is indeed just a set of spooks.

[Anonymous No.10905686]

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked 'Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes.' People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves.

[Anonymous No.10905691]

this is not your blog
you dont have to be interested in every existing topic
read whatever interests you

>money, youth, videogames, and good looks are as good as it gets
that's what system you're living in wants people to think and it succeeds

[Anonymous No.10905695]

>>10905686
This has nothing to do with OP's post, you just wanted to type the fox grape story somewhere because u learned it somewhere u cunt

[Anonymous No.10905709]

>>10905695
OP tried to become a patrician. He failed. Now he disparages the whole thing because of his failure.

[Anonymous No.10905715]

>>10905709
agree, lots of resentment in OP's post

[Anonymous No.10905716]

>>10905662
society actually doesn't speak, it doesn't tell you a single thing, when you talk about society you interpret a collective silence and answer to it instead of answering to your own inner voice that is probably yelling for attention right now

[Anonymous No.10905717]

>>10905695
No, I copypasted it from Wikipedia.
OP has figured come to a conclusion that he doesn't want to invest time in things like philosophy or science. He's admitted ignorance, that's the first step - it's also a step we have to take over and over again, otherwise our passion for learning dies. But if he truly didn't care he wouldn't be bitter about it. A billion normies are aware of the elevated status of high art and thinking but pay little attention and do so with pride and shamelessness. OP knows he can approach these things and even enjoy them, but he is at an impasse, because he is overloaded with people's expectations of him, which he resents. The first reaction is to sulk, and then to post on here about it, to let the feelings go and to attract contradiction and punishment. He wishes to hurt the people who fling about so casually those value systems which torment him, to make them angry, but he also wants himself to be attacked by them, and disproven. He wants to grovel in the mud more, and either admit defeat and find that there really is value in these things, or to double down and become stubborn, and cranky, and sour. When you are in a rage, plagued by conflicting feelings of inferiority and superiority, self-hatred and other-hatred, both being validated and being punished have their own twisted appeal.

[Anonymous No.10905722]

LEARNING consists in daily accumulating;
The practice of Tao consists in daily diminishing.

Keep on diminishing and diminishing,
Until you reach the state of Non-Ado.
No-Ado, and yet nothing is left undone.

To win the world, one must renounce all.
If one still has private ends to serve,
One will never be able to win the world.

-

HAVE done with learning,
And you will have no more vexation.

How great is the difference between "eh" and "o"?
What is the distinction between "good" and "evil"?
Must I fear what others fear?
What abysmal nonsense this is!

All men are joyous and beaming,
As though feasting upon a sacrificial ox,
As though mounting the Spring Terrace;
I alone am placid and give no sign,
Like a babe which has not yet smiled.
I alone am forlorn as one who has no home to retum to.

All men have enough and to spare:
I alone appear to possess nothing.
What a fool I am!
What a muddled mind I have!
All men are bright, bright:
I alone am dim, dim.
All men are sharp, sharp:
I alone am mum, mum!
Bland like the ocean,
Aimless like the wafting gale.

All men settle down in their grooves:
I alone am stubborn and remain outside.
But wherein I am most different from others is
In knowing to take sustenance from my Mother!

[Anonymous No.10905725]

We all know what you need to do

[Anonymous No.10905726]

YOUR LIFE HAS A LIMIT but knowledge has none. If you use what is limited to pursue what has no limit, you will be in danger. If you understand this and still strive for knowledge, you will be in danger for certain!

[Anonymous No.10905730]

>>10905709
>>10905715
lol. These two tried to unspook themselves but failed. Lot's of ressentiment in their posts

[Anonymous No.10905731]

>>10905725
Socrates probably made that expression all the time which is why everyone wanted to beat the shit out of him

[Anonymous No.10905733]

This is unironically one of the best posts I've ever read on /lit/. I really appreciate this post. You think you are at your lowest point OP, but I'm telling you that you are much closer to the truth than 99% of people and you are coming close to an understanding of the vanity of human affairs. Read the Book of Ecclesiastes and the two Taoist works I quoted from above.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(King_James)/Ecclesiastes
https://terebess.hu/english/tao/wu.html
https://terebess.hu/english/chuangtzu.html

Also, you can read Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet.

https://www.scribd.com/document/165980860/Fernando-Pessoa-The-Book-of-Disquiet

[Anonymous No.10905736]

>>10905691
It wouldnt succeed if it wasnt at least partly true.

[Anonymous No.10905742]

In the days of Ho Hsu, people stayed home but didn't know what they were doing, walked around but didn't know where they were going. Their mouths crammed with food, they were merry; drumming on their bellies, they passed the time. This was as much as they were able to do. Then the sage came along with the crouchings and bendings of rites and music, which were intended to reform the bodies of the world; with the reaching-for-a-dangled-prize of benevolence and righteousness, which was intended to comfort the hearts of the world. Then for the first time people learned to stand on tiptoe and covet knowledge, to fight to the death over profit, and there was no stopping them. This in the end was the fault of the sage.

[Anonymous No.10905746]

>>10905662
>seeing attractive young people is humiliating
this is how I know you're a manchild. Aging is inevitable. To feel shame for the thing you can't control is to divert attention from those things you can. If you feel ashamed that other people are younger than you, the clear cause is that you know you could do more than you're doing. You further try to justify yourself by saying that perfection is impossible, so why bother. Of course every thinker is simply putting forward their idea of things. They are highly regarded because their idea of things is clearer by far than most, coherent, and extremely well put. You will never be a child again, so stop trying.

[Anonymous No.10905747]

The men of old dwelt in the midst of crudity and chaos; side by side with the rest of the world, they attained simplicity and silence there. At that time the yin and yang were harmonious and still, ghosts and spirits worked no mischief, the four seasons kept to their proper order, the ten thousand things knew no injury, and living creatures were free from premature death. Although men had knowledge, they did not use it. This was called the Perfect Unity. At this time, no one made a move to do anything, and there was unvarying spontaneity.

The time came, however, when Virtue began to dwindle and decline, and then Sui Jen and Fu Hsi stepped forward to take charge of the world. As a result there was compliance, but no longer any unity. Virtue continued to dwindle and decline, and then Shen Nung and the Yellow Emperor stepped forward to take charge of the world. As a result, there was security, but no longer any compliance. Virtue continued to dwindle and decline, and then Yao and Shun stepped forward to take charge of the world. They set about in various fashions to order and transform the world, and in doing so defiled purity and shattered simplicity. The Way was pulled apart for the sake of goodness; Virtue was imperiled for the sake of conduct. After this, inborn nature was abandoned and minds were set free to roam, mind joining with mind in understanding; there was knowledge, but it could not bring stability to the world. After this, "culture" was added on, and "breadth" was piled on top. "Culture" destroyed the substantial, "breadth" drowned the mind, and after this the people began to be confused and disordered. They had no way to revert to the true form of their inborn nature or to return once more to the Beginning.

[Anonymous No.10905754]

T'IEN TZU-FANG WAS SITTING in attendance on Marquis Wen of Wei. When he repeatedly praised one Ch'i Kung, Marquis Wen asked, "Is Ch'i Kung your teacher?"

"No," replied Tzu-fang. "He comes from the same neighborhood as I do. Discussing the Way with him, I've found he often hits the mark - that's why I praise him."

"Have you no teacher then?" asked Marquis Wen.

"I have," said Tzu-fang.

"Who is your teacher?"

"Master Shun from east of the Wall," said Tzu-fang.

"Then why have you never praised him?" asked Marquis Wen.

Tzu-fang said, "He's the kind of man who is True - the face of a human being, the emptiness of Heaven. He follows along and keeps tight hold of the True; pure, he can encompass all things. If men do not have the Way, he has only to put on a straight face and they are enlightened; he causes men's intentions to melt away. But how could any of this be worth praising!"

Tzu-fang retired from the room and Marquis Wen, stupefied, sat for the rest of the day in silence. Then he called to the ministers who stood in attendance on him and said, "How far away he is - the gentleman of Complete Virtue! I used to think that the words of the wisdom of the sages and the practices of benevolence and righteousness were the highest ideal. But now that I have heard about Tzu-fang's teacher, my body has fallen apart and I feel no inclination to move; my mouth is manacled and I feel no inclination to speak. These things that I have been studying are so many clay dolls - nothing more! This state of Wei is in truth only a burden to me!"

[Anonymous No.10905759]

>>10905746
That's one thing I can't wrap my head around. In my youth, I did the best I could do considering the situation that I was in, so why should I think about wanting to repeat those years when a lot of it was really situational.

I always think about my friend who died at the age of 10 and how it is dumb to whine about your youth when you are old, when a lot of people don't even get that old.

[Anonymous No.10905763]

>>10905662
>If you're really good at one thing then there are people lining up to call you a tard for not watching opera or being able to run a marathon or whatever shit. So I do nothing.

BY not exalting the talented you will cause the people to cease from rivalry and contention.
By not prizing goods hard to get, you will cause the people to cease from robbing and stealing.
By not displaying what is desirable, you will cause the people's hearts to remain undisturbed.

Therefore, the Sage's way of governing begins by

Emptying the heart of desires,
Filling the belly with food,
Weakening the ambitions,
Toughening the bones.

In this way he will cause the people to remain without knowledge and without desire, and prevent the knowing ones from any ado.
Practice Non-Ado, and everything will be in order.

-

THE softest of all things
Overrides the hardest of all things.
Only Nothing can enter into no-space.
Hence I know the advantages of Non-Ado.

Few things under heaven are as instructive as the lessons of Silence,
Or as beneficial as the fruits of Non-Ado.

-

DO the Non-Ado.
Strive for the effortless.
Savour the savourless.
Exalt the low.
Multiply the few.
Requite injury with kindness.

Nip troubles in the bud.
Sow the great in the small.

Difficult things of the world
Can only be tackled when they are easy.
Big things of the world
Can only be achieved by attending to their small beginnings.
Thus, the Sage never has to grapple with big things,
Yet he alone is capable of achieving them!

He who promises lightly must be lacking in faith.
He who thinks everything easy will end by finding everything difficult.
Therefore, the Sage, who regards everything as difficult,
Meets with no difficulties in the end.

[Anonymous No.10905767]

>>10905763
>>10905754
>>10905747
>>10905742
you already linked to it, stop quoting

[Anonymous No.10905771]

>>10905767
k

[Anonymous No.10905774]

>>10905662
You are talking about pretension but your whole post in one incohesive mess of pretentiousness.

[Anonymous No.10905785]

>>10905726
What "danger" are you talking about? Also is your message to him that he needs to specialize?

[Anonymous No.10905789]

>>10905662
>I see novels as nothing but entertainment despite pretentious people claiming life / philosophical insights and tonnes of people will consider you a disgusting plebeian if you don't initially read shitloads of boring as fuck canon novels.
The real purpose of literary fiction isn't just to serve as a dramatic container for particular ideas, it's to elicit an emotional response from its reader. Dismissing that as just "entertainment" is like saying that masturbation is indistinguishable from sex because they're both just about acheiving orgasm. If you're unable to experience the cathartic release good literature is capable of providing, then your brain is probably broken and you're suffering from severe depression.