Why do you read?

[Anonymous No.17564879]

Why do you read? No, seriously.

I can only think of two main reasons, or a combination of both:
>As a Hobby.
Not much to be said. I do this already.
>To learn something that will help you improve your live.
If this is the case for you, how exactly does reading literary/philosophical masterpieces improve your daily lives?
I can only think of technical/practical books for this reason.

I'm genuinely curious to know what's the point on reading all of the charts you post here, considering that I'll eventually die and take nothing with me.
Please be specific.

[Anonymous No.17564897]

>>17564879
It's the only thing worth doing in this shifty world

[Anonymous No.17564902]

>>17564879
>If this is the case for you, how exactly does reading literary/philosophical masterpieces improve your daily lives?

Reading about someone solving their problems can give you some guidance on solving your own

[Anonymous No.17564904]

>>17564879
I like books, they're aesthetic, and reading them is nice too.

[Anonymous No.17564915]

>learning about someone else's perspective is useless!

This is why you have no friends and nobody wants to touch your penis, OP.

[Anonymous No.17564927]

>>17564915
>Says the person who prefers books to actual dialogue.
Not gonna make it.

[Anonymous No.17564943]

>>17564879
Because I have a hole in my head that I can never seem to fill, and therefore I need to consoom

[Anonymous No.17565024]

>>17564879
To put it in simple terms, we perceive the outside world through our inner world. Books have the capacity to enrich this inner world and in turn our life. About that capacity, it's because books (good ones at least) are all about another person laying bare their inner world for you from which you can take away and build parts into your own. Other artforms and more generally any kind of human interaction also has this capacity but books might be the most dense and deep in this regard.

[Anonymous No.17565036]

>>17564879
Because I am a midwit and like to feel smarter than other people.

[Anonymous No.17565049]

>>17564879
initially, because being well-read seemed desirable, and because /lit/ seemed like a fun board. started with fiction, and gained increasingly more appreciation for the beauty found in good literature. Started thinking more about the books i read and started reading some analyses and academic discourse around certain works. Also got increasingly into philosophy through a mix of curiousity and unanswered questions. I guess theres something really satisfying in realising that the way you think is noticeably more complex and nuanced than the dumb shit you thought before.

Charts can be misleading because they imply theres some sort of goal to reach where you get a complete understanding of the topic presented once you finish the list, which of course there isnt. If you dont enjoy the process there is no point.

[Anonymous No.17565114]

>>17564879
>Why do you read?
1.) to improve the quality of my writing and for inspiration
2.) because I feel like reading is a better use of my time than video games or movies or TV as a hobby. I feel like reading engages my mind better and encourages me to take an active (rather than passive) part in the media that I consume
3.) literature, at its greatest, far surpasses any other medium at its greatest; the aforementioned TV, movies, video games, even at their peak, do not compare in the slightest to literature at its peak

[Anonymous No.17565128]

>>17564879
I read because i have a strong desire to become more articulate, witty, and learned

[Anonymous No.17565148]

reading is a basic activity for learning and interacting with the world today. i have things i'm interested in and things i enjoy.

[Anonymous No.17565149]

>>17565128
You failed to explain why those things are important to you.

[Anonymous No.17565158]

>>17564879
I have a special kind pf autism where text on a page is the only way information seems to stick and music is one of the only things I'm naturally good at. Everything else is just dissonant noise that I can't even feign interest in.

[Anonymous No.17565192]

>>17565149
It doesnt need explaining

[Anonymous No.17565261]

I like learning. Learning is useful. How do I do this thing properly? How do I talk to this person so they react in this certain way? How do I avoid making mistakes with regard to this? How should I feel when this thing happens? How should I react if this were to ever happen to me? Reading what people smarter than you have written down allows you to develop your mental model of reality beyond your experience, expanding your horizons and allowing you to skirt closer to the edge of what's possible with better results.

[Anonymous No.17565264]

>>17564879
To gain Wisdom and get closer to the divine

[Anonymous No.17565435]

>>17564879
To make informed opinions that will hopefully allow me to have a meaningful impact on history.

[Anonymous No.17565539]

I've already acknowledged that reading isn't much better than video games or television but at least it's easier on the eyes and overall cheaper. Since I've quit video games and tv shows I might as well read to fill the time. Other than that I study Japanese and have started learning piano, which both also need a lot of reading which is pleasant in it's own way.

[Anonymous No.17565544]

>>17564879
haha i don't

[Anonymous No.17565933]

>>17565192
How do you see yourself benefiting from those, personally?

[Anonymous No.17565978]

>>17564879
The world of imagination and ideas of a higher order feels to me like the last place I can find any sort of refuge in this life.

[Anonymous No.17565982]

If you read, it's only a matter of time before it helps you, regardless of whether it is with mathematics, history, philosophy, what have you.

:3

[Anonymous No.17565993]

>>17565982
This begs the question:

Which type of literature/book is detrimental to you?

[Anonymous No.17566009]

To btfo libtards in arguments

[Anonymous No.17566020]

Some books literally make me feel consoled for quite some time and take the burden off of my back too. Kierkegaard is a great example of someone who does this.

[Anonymous No.17566032]

every so often i stumble upon some piece of knowledge that makes me just a bit more woke. you need to consume a lot of information to come across info that can change how you intend to live.

[Anonymous No.17566144]

>>17564879
>Why do you read?
wait you guys actually read the books?

[Anonymous No.17566226]

Because it makes me feel like im a decent person

[Anonymous No.17566236]

>>17564879
Because me smart me want to make me self dumber

[Anonymous No.17566242]

>>17566236
What books do you read?

[Anonymous No.17567445]

>>17566242
I'm trans if that matters, but mostly self-improvement and harry potter

[Anonymous No.17567461]

>>17564879
Reading is fun. I like stories, and books are a great medium for storytelling. I like learning too, and books are a great medium for getting information.

[Anonymous No.17567477]

>>17567445
it doesn't matter. why bring it up?

[Anonymous No.17567484]

>>17565049
This, all of this, and especially the end. Charts aren't there to mandate what you must read, nor is it a sort of goal, it's just a fancy list of recommendations that can be followed or discarded freely. Nobody is going to pop up and shoot you because you read the "wrong" book by Mishima first, for example. It's just a graphical example of "here's how I'd recommend preparing to read X", or "here's what I'd consider to be the high points to have a broad understanding of X".

[Anonymous No.17567488]

>>17564879
Big brain ideas and feels

[Anonymous No.17567540]

>If this is the case for you, how exactly does reading literary/philosophical masterpieces improve your daily lives?

The whole point of stories are to teach lessons, if they were useless people would have forgotten them ages ago, think about this, do you have access to any ancient world practical book? And even if you do, do you read it for its intended purpose? Or as a curiosity?
But in the other hand people still read the Gilgamesh Epic and the greek classics.

[Anonymous No.17567971]

>>17564879
For fun.

[Anonymous No.17568014]

>>17567540
>do you have access to any ancient world practical book?

If you could read in the ancient world you probably didn't have to do manual labor

[Anonymous No.17568018]

>>17564879
>If this is the case for you, how exactly does reading literary/philosophical masterpieces improve your daily lives?
Because I have an autistic compulsion to know things. The irony is that by reading philosophy you begin to know even less about things, or at least you realize how little you knew about the world in the first place. The cycle continues until death.

[Anonymous No.17568312]

>>17566236
Dummies

[Anonymous No.17568400]

>>17564902
Not OP, never thought of that.
I'll look into bibliographies from now on. I underestimated it and thought it to be just a history of a person.

Thanks.

[Anonymous No.17568462]

>>17567445
>reading self improvement
trying to add to the 41%

[Anonymous No.17568556]

>>17564879
I read as a hobby, form of an entertainment, and an educating media for learning. It is fun to learn basics of x subject, or how it feels to get into stuck on fictional situation.

It improves me overall, in somewhat a decent sized change, but as an uni student myself, getting used to read a book is great.

[Anonymous No.17568568]

I like reading because people smarter than me can show me new things through cool word combinations

[Anonymous No.17568857]

Which “career” benefits the most from reading, outstanding of academia? Politics?

[Anonymous No.17568862]

>>17568857
posting on /lit/

[Anonymous No.17568869]

>>17568862
Where’s my paycheque?

[Anonymous No.17568873]

>>17568857
Career in politics benefits less from reading and more from being very sociable and having the gift of silver tongue.
I can't remember any career that really benefits from reading. Reading textbooks can help in many fields, but for most part one learns more from experience.

[Anonymous No.17568909]

>>17568873
I’m not sure I agree. Knowing about history is invaluable in politics. There are also things to be learned about debating others and how to deconstruct their arguments.

[Anonymous No.17568920]

>reading the posts of random weirdos on imageboards made for teenagers is okay
>reading texts that influenced important people during the course of history is a waste of time

[Anonymous No.17568944]

>>17568920
It’s a hobby.

[Anonymous No.17568955]

>>17568909
Politicians don't really need more than some very basic knowledge of history, the general public won't really notice anyway.
Successful debating is not learned from reading a lot of books, it's learned from quite simply debating a lot, getting your mind used to formulating sentences real fast. Need some facts to throw around? Have your assistant do a search and then make a quick read.
If politicians seem smart, it's because they know how to sell themselves as such, and not because they are well-read or anything.

[Anonymous No.17568963]

>>17568955
There’s nothing more humiliating than crushing your debate opponent by making him look uncultured and/or dumb.

https://youtu.be/fOT_BoGpCn4

[Anonymous No.17569091]

I read to expand my horizons of idea, possibilities, and thoughts, and novelty.
I don't read predictable things - if I can fortell the exact wording of the author for the characters and narration, he's blacklisted.
I read to push out my thoughts and musings and vicariously experience the realm of human possibility.
I read to collect knowledge about everything.
Some or all of these also are fun.

[Anonymous No.17569263]

I just like knowing things. Even though brain capacity is limited, I like the essence of knowing things.

[Anonymous No.17569274]

>>17564879
Why do people constantly ask others to justify their habits? What kind of sociality is this? I don’t have to justify a goddam thing, I read because I want to, you fucking bugman

[Anonymous No.17569279]

>>17569274
Why do people constantly reply to threads for self affirmation? What kind of anonymous image board is this?

[Anonymous No.17569281]

>>17569274
>I can't rationally defend my choices so I will just ignore the question and appeal to emotions

[Anonymous No.17569288]

>>17569281
I'm not appealing to anything, I'm telling you to fuck off

[Anonymous No.17569294]

>>17569279
Lol
>>17569281
>implying emotions aren’t rational
>people need to rationally defend their choices
Why? Unironically this is some lab coat wearing faggot ass bugman shit, without a fucking doubt. People that think they can justify acts of taste are fundamentally disconnected from the conditions of experiencing consciousness.
>>17569288
Based

[Anonymous No.17569306]

>>17569294
>>17569288
You are no better than a feral animal doing things because it can without trying to approach the real meaning behind your actions

[Anonymous No.17569311]

>>17569294
Why do people reply to their own posts for self affirmation? What kind of cope is this?

[Anonymous No.17569316]

>>17569306
I have more respect for a feral lion than I do for a twig-armed weakling who tries to pretend they are above the reality which gives them existence

[Anonymous No.17569323]

>>17569306
>implying there’s a “real meaning” behind actions
Representationalist bullshit.
>>17569311
>implying actions are representations rather than productions
Oh wow man what kind of nonsense is this?

[Anonymous No.17569338]

>>17569323
>>17569316
>>17569294
>>17569288

[Anonymous No.17569355]

>>17564879
>I can only think of technical/practical books for this reason
reading philosophy, theology and such concept helps with personal growth and teaches you how to not be fooled by simple wordplay and ground your existance in something solid.
Which is how you know that 99% of this board never fucking reads.

[Anonymous No.17569388]

>>17569355
>Which is how you know that 99% of this board never fucking reads.

[Anonymous No.17569395]

>>17564879
Because it's my job and 50% of academic humanities is being able to reference someone.

[Anonymous No.17569397]

>>17569355
>teaches you how to not be fooled by simple wordplay
>ground your existance in something solid.
Personal crisis waiting to happen, my friend. I hope your faith is strong, because you'll need it.

[Anonymous No.17569425]

>>17569395
>Reference inception
I hated this so much.

[Anonymous No.17569439]

>>17569397
I have had several and I'm still here, you think you're telling me something new KEK

[Anonymous No.17569448]

>>17569425
>>17569395
I like to do nested quas then a big block quote, then end sections. I hate having to reference people and that’s how I get around it

[Anonymous No.17570002]

>>17568857
Probably Academia anon. If you can make academic paper/essay/anything related from what you study with reading, mostly it will help you to get involved into the academia role.

However it is needed to learn research methodology as a basic to start doing it. With good analytical skill, and a lots of dedication, you could become an academia.

[Anonymous No.17570055]

So I look at these repeating squiggly lines on a stack of bound paper and images show up in my brain, noises, motion, people, distanct planets, gods, abstract ideas spring to mind. And I'm like shiiiet boy thats some good weed, you sayin this one's legal?!

[Anonymous No.17570058]

>>17565993
If it warps your worldview to an unhealthy or unrealistic degree. Of course, unhealthy and unrealistic are both very subjective too. But for example, if you primarily consume romance novels to the point where you think they accurately portray reality and make it difficult for you to get a real relationship, then that’s detrimental. Or if you read nonfiction that is simply factually incorrect or warps facts to back up its biases, then that’s bad too if you don’t realize it. (I always take any pirate history that refers to Daniel Defoe instead of Johnson as the author of A General History of the Pyrates with a degree of skepticism for this reason for instance.)

[Anonymous No.17570291]

>>17570058
Where should I start with pirate history?

[S10241875 No.17570315]

>>17564879

> To find out something that will make your life worse.
I started reading. And I can't stop.
If I think about it, I don't want to.

[Anonymous No.17570321]

>>17568400
You mean (auto)biographies, but good on you, anon

[Anonymous No.17570339]

I wanted to find truth

[Anonymous No.17570549]

>>17570291
The republic of the pirates by Woodward is probably the best overview. Black flag, blue waters is a good one that focuses more on American colonies instead of the Caribbean. Under the black flag is good too, but I don’t remember it too well. And then there’s Enemy of all mankind about Henry Every. He was before the golden age but still a huge influence.

[Anonymous No.17570882]

>>17565933
If you cant see how being witty, learned, and articulate could help someone then there is no hope for you.

[Anonymous No.17570951]

>>17570882
You're clearly not benefiting from any of those since you have sub-par reading comprehension.

[Anonymous No.17571399]

>>17570951
How is my reading comprehension sub-par, retard?

[Anonymous No.17571429]

>>17564897
Fpbp

[Anonymous No.17571997]

>>17564879
I am a hyperlexic autist and so books are neat.

[Anonymous No.17572023]

>>17564879