/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.11507315]

any books on why America is so anti intellectual?

I know a Trump supporting Mormon who doesn't really understand what he's talking about at all. He denies evolution but says he'll only talk about why in person. He thinks faith is above reason, and he does cringey stuff like tweet "I am a walking genius anyone who disagrees doesn’t actually know me" and "I’m smarter than anyone who doesn’t believe in God". you can say this is fake and that's fine i don't want anyone harassing him since he's my friend and these are ostensibly private personal sentiments of his. He says it's a myth that the Republican and Democratic parties' traded their base/ideologies, that Donald Trump is the best president ever, Marx was one of the worst people who ever lived, that trickle down and the rich getting richer works, that israel should exist because hamas is terrible, the iran deal is terrible, that since he's a straight white male he can't keep an opinion in "their" eyes. Lastly he worships Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro (he says he listens to his podcast everyday... but also implied he felt like he was in an echo chamber -- he says he wants to start a podcast with me).

There's a lot more I could say, but the big thing for me was noticing the way he understood the world from the information presented to him, mainly he was understanding it through video, talking. I think that seeing someone's face is the way he takes what being presented to him legitimately. His identity is practically his beliefs, he has MAGA pics on social media.
Whenever i present to him an article or anything you need to read, he doesn't do it. He had a similar cheating habit in high school. How do you get someone to see the world through literature and letters? how do you get it to inspire them? he's equally obsessed with rap music (which he says he disagrees with shapiro on) so i know he can see beauty understands at least a bit about art (he thinks art should be meaningful so he hates abstract art).

I know some of you will think he has reached enormous based levels and i should take the red pill. I'm his friend because of his passion, but I still feel kind of bad that he has no idea above what he sees on twitter, youtube, and on the sabbath, how do you show someone that there is a whole world around them? I don't disagree with him having beliefs but i do with his narrowness and arrogance.

thank you /lit/

[Anonymous No.11507396]

>>11507315
he sounds like he's just a moron who happens to hold conservative beliefs rather than a conservative whose beliefs make him a moron. People like that (morons) are beyond help and if they weren't, the world wouldn't be as big of a shit hole as it is.

[Anonymous No.11507404]

>>11507396
it feels hopeless, i just wish there was like a red pill for conservatism that would work on an evangelical like him

[Anonymous No.11507413]

>>11507404
or no, i mean like.... i don't want to convert him i just want him to UNDERSTAND how other people reason their way into their beliefs... he thinks of "leftists" like mentally ill aliens

[Anonymous No.11507415]

>>11507404
>i just wish there was like a red pill for conservatism that would work on an evangelical like him
I dont think him being a conservative is the problem though

[Anonymous No.11507421]

>>11507315
weak and bluepilled

[Anonymous No.11507423]

>>11507415
yes that's what i meant
>>11507413
worded it with some of my bias, i am just frustrated with him not even making a sincere effort to understand the other side, he just paints it black.

[Anonymous No.11507457]

>>11507423
write a story about what an annoying cunt he is and maybe then you'd have sufficient proof to show him why he needs to change.

[Anonymous No.11507466]

>>11507315
Mason & Dixon

[Anonymous No.11507473]

>>11507457
i ask him about his twitter posts and tell him they seem juvenile, like a desperate call for attention, without tact. He tells me he doesn't care--- i think he points to donald trump and kanye west after that.

[Anonymous No.11507478]

>>11507466
>Mason & Dixon
wow this isn't a bad idea.

The only problem is i doubt he would read it unless he had a reason.... how do you entice a person like him to read a book like this?

[Anonymous No.11507495]

>>11507473
then you need to use fiction as a form so that you can make unfamiliar what is familiar to him. you should use the fact that a genuinely faithful man would obviously not commend the actions of selfish, self interested, and dishonest men. So it seems like books that *should* help him would be Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Joyce.


http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2738/

[Anonymous No.11507559]

>>11507495
>then you need to use fiction as a form so that you can make unfamiliar what is familiar to him.

this is brilliant, however ... he would counter with- "these folks are not selfish or self interested they're honest and they do what they set out to do and they want to help people etc.. they've helped me"

hearing those names would probably dissuade him t.b.h.

[Anonymous No.11507567]

>>11507559
maybe i should send him that famous anthropology thing with the toothbrush... but i don't know if he'd let himself see what it means

[Anonymous No.11507582]

>>11507466
>>11507478
Odd choice. I think everyone would benefit from reading M&D, but I don't see how it particularly applies to OP's friend or how it will shed any light on OP's allegation of American anti-intellectualism.

>>11507315
It's you who needs to do some reading if you want to understand your friends point of view and American conservatism in general. Forget about getting him to read anything, it wont work; people must come to these things on their own. My advice to you is to read - as an introduction to reactionary thought - Moldbug's Open Letter. The later parts wax idealistic and economic but the first few parts should be sufficient for you to understand why people like your friend are drawn to conservatism.

http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2008/04/open-letter-to-open-minded-progressives.html

[Anonymous No.11507587]

>>11507315
You know, putting "books on [x]?" at the start of a post doesn't automatically make that post suitable for /lit/.

Sage.

[Anonymous No.11507598]

>>11507582
>http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2008/04/open-letter-to-open-minded-progressives.html
i will read this thank you

>>11507587
i asked about getting someone interested in literature and letters and seeing the world

[Anonymous No.11507605]

>>11507582
did you read it?

[Anonymous No.11507611]

>>11507587
To be fair to OP, although his post isn't really about literature, his thread is more "high-effort" than 90% of the threads in the catalog and his thread looks promising for opportunities of quality discussion.

[Anonymous No.11507619]

>>11507605
Yeah. It's one of my favorite novels.

[Anonymous No.11507622]

>>11507619
I see

[kinggucci69 !!36GpOxAcrVH No.11507650]

bumporoni

[Anonymous No.11507654]

>>11507315
If you want to show him this outside world then you need to be it's representative. Bombard him with new, engaging points of view. Deliver these ideas with more charisma and passion then Shapiro or JBP. Done correctly, you'll spark his curiosity and he will naturally start to explore and figure out where you're getting your ideas.

How can you be lifelong friends with someone and still feel uncomfortable calling them on their bullshit? Debate him. Argue with him. If his beliefs are as one dimensional as you say then it should be easy for you to dismantle his worldview. Whenever I get BTFO'd by a friend in conversation I'm motivated to learn more and dig deeper.

Finally, maybe you should take the red pill and see what happens to you. Not saying you have to go full 1488, but if you're opposed to direct confrontation then maybe engaging on your friend's level and slowly working him out of his echo chamber is the way to go. But you're not going to be able to do that without understanding why he holds his beliefs. I doubt it's as simple as social media brainwashing. Bottom line, if you consume the media he does then you'll have some common ground for debate and you'll be able to differ true belief from parroted opinion.