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/lit/ - Literature

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12872784 No.12872784 [Reply] [Original]

I sometimes worry that the stagnation I experienced in my early years, as a result of parents who never encouraged reading and laugh when Shakespeare or Kant are mentioned, had irreparable consequences on my mind developmentally. When I was young I would watch TV and play video games. I always did well in English class, because it was one of the only classes I found interesting in school. But when I would go to pick up a book I would always find that I would struggle to maintain my focus on it. Fast forward to my early 20s, I started reading some books; In The Miso Soup, The Wasp Factory, 1984, and I felt that I was missing out on stuff.

I had become bored with video games and I hadn't watched television in years, I had mostly switched to writing posts on forums online. I was unable to finish a single semester of college after 3 attempts, after which I took 4 years off of college due to being overwhelmed with anxiety and sadness. In my solitude, laying around in my apartment listening to music laying on the floor, I decided that my life is what I make of it. I picked up books and started to read. I read Moby Dick, I read Notes From Underground, and while I didn't finish those 2 in particular, or other difficult books, I did finish several dozen. I started reading philosophy, I started with the sections covering the Greeks in Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. I decided it was time for me to go back to college. I switched my major from psychology to philosophy, and I got an A in every class I've taken for the past 4 semesters.

I push myself harder to read, even though sometimes my brain doesn't even process a line after I read it. It's because of video games which give you fast impulse stimulation (as opposed to slow analytical thinking), that your brain expects stimulation to simply arrive in your brain and for you to "press a button" to interact with it, if you will, as opposed to processing what is on the page which one never does when they play a video game or watch youtube. The modern age has done the thinking for us, and there has been evidence that use of social media in particular is lowering people's attention spans. Even professors have difficulty immersing themselves in longer reading material. Many of us are left with brains which have become neglected, shrivelled, and developmentally handicapped.

>> No.12872827

>>12872784
I feel you op, my parents did read to me but after they split I was raised by the internet and by vidya, I probably have hipofrontality (I became briefly addicted to drugs) and I blame modernity for it

>> No.12872854
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12872854

>>12872784
>qt anime boys in hospital

I guess i'm that way now.

>> No.12873024

>>12872854
QT guys are the most literary of all pleasures.

>> No.12873045
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12873045

I see my young cousins go through the same thing you've went through and it infuriates me. Not just books, we live in a society where any sort of aesthetic education is neglected.

>> No.12873059

No don't worry. I went the opposite route reading voraciously from a very young age. I had an endless supply of books to pick from.
Then depression and boredom crept and I lost any interest at around 17

>> No.12873160

my folks just had me watch tv, never shared any books with me after bed time stories, never shared any music (despite my taking up two instruments), always rolled their eyes about media they thought of as "intellectual," and they both had graduate degrees. combine that with being socially isolated. now my friends are all highly intelligent, skilled, and motivated and i basically just show up and say "good job." i guess they still think i'm alright (i'm a little pretty so i get away with it) but it tears me apart every day that my formative years were basically spent mint-in-box and now i'm irrelevant to anyone who doesn't want my dick.

>> No.12873207

>>12872784
Same. I tried learning a second language as a kid and my shitbag trailer trash parents made fun of me until I quit. I despise them so much I can't even describe it.

>> No.12873268

>>12872784
quality thread. i'm glad you figured it out by yourself, it's a very rare case. >>12873045
i get what you're talking about. i'm tutoring children sometimes, it seems like their brains are a bit molten from that 24/7 social media exposure, and youtube section targeted at kids seems intentionally retarding.
>>12873207
let the hatred fuel you.

>> No.12874493

bump

>> No.12875608

i've been losing my attention span over time and its really depressing. I know all I need to do is actually start reading again and i'll be fine, but it's really frustrating to get back into it

>> No.12876795

>>12872784
I empathize with many of your statements. I have lived a similar life, and have recently been interested in devoting my time towards reading. However, in the past, I had trouble maintaining my mind's eye on the content and feeling engaged. I could get more out of technical manuals than any fiction book. I feel my inability to enjoy literature fully may have crippled me in some ways.

Is there anything you did besides simply reading more or meditation to improve your "personal involvement" with the text? I want to be more deeply involved in whatever books I consume.

>> No.12876805

I am not reading all that shit

fuck this thread

>> No.12876821

>>12873160
I wish you the best in life anon, genuinely

>> No.12878104

>>12876795
I bring books on the bus with me, to waiting rooms, whenever I have time really. It's much harder to do when I'm at home, but having a physical copy which you can hold and carry around with you increases the attachment to a book and reading for sure. I'd say it's comforting to have a book and carry it around, it's almost like a stuffed animal you carry around when you're a kid, except socially acceptable.

>> No.12878242

>>12878104
is it weird to go up and talk to people if they're reading a book you like?

i just want some /lit/ friends desu

>> No.12878252

>>12878242
Idk, I've never tried it. I don't think it's forbidden by law.

>> No.12878274

>>12878252
well what if somebody did it to you?

>> No.12878279

>>12878274
It would depend on whether
>1) They're attractive and would make a good mate
>2) They seem socially aware; intelligent, confident, witty, a pleasant demeanor
>3) They actually know a thing or two about books so we can have an intelligent conversation.

>> No.12878309

>>12878279
>1) They're attractive and would make a good mate

yeah okay, i'll show myself out

>> No.12878327

>>12872784
tl;dr no one gives a fuck

>> No.12878330

>>12878309
I'm just kidding, of course. I have no idea whether anyone ever walks up to people and asks them about books. I'm really nervous about interacting with people in general so I personally wouldn't walk up to others and talk to them about books.