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/lit/ - Literature

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[ERROR] No.2039865 [Reply] [Original]

/lit/,

What is the benefit to being cultured?

It doesn't get you a job, so what does it do? Does it make you popular? Does it help you make friends? Does it get you laid? Does it simply give you a sense of smug self-satisfaction?

Why do you choose to show off your knowledge of literature and the arts? What is the benefit in it for you?

>> No.2039875

I don't show off shit. But I do find that being cultured is pretty much key in understanding Woody Allen's humor.

>> No.2039881

troll, but nonetheless, this is typical pleb mentality. Some people have an intrinsic motivation to acquire knowledge. They don't do it in order to get external rewards, they do it just for the joy of doing it.

>> No.2039888

>>2039881

And you wonder why people look down on grad students.

>> No.2039893

I enjoy books and enjoy talking about them

>> No.2039894

I do it for the sense of smug self-satisfaction.

>> No.2039896

OH GREAT WE ARE BACK TO KID'S QUESTIONS

WHY BRUSH TEETH MOM?
WHY STUDY THIS CRAPPY MATH?
WHY NOT EAT ICECREAM B4 LUNCH?
WHY TALK TO PPL IRL IF I CAN BE FINE JUST HERE ALONE IN 4CHAN WITH MY HENTAI ACTION FIGURES?
WHY DO WE NEED MONEY?
WHY DO WE EAT?
WHY HAVE SEX?

HOLY SHIT, GROW UP, NOBODY IS TELLING YOU TO DO IT. IF YOU DON'T REALIZE THAT ANY POSSIBLE REASON TO DO ANYTHING IS ACTUALLY JUST ANOTHER NAME FOR SELF-SATISFACTION THAN YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ANYTHING. I DON'T HAVE ANY REASON TO DO ROIDS AND GO TO THE GYM EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR AT LEAST 2 HOURS, BUT I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY SOME PEOPLE HAVE FUN DOING IT.

>> No.2039901

>>2039896

>I don't have any reason to go to the gym every day

so you don't get fat. You probably are.

Also, hedonistic shits like you are disgusting. If we didn't value practicality we'd all be welfare bums living off of pity handouts.

>> No.2039903

it helps you be successful as long as you are not a cultured retard

>> No.2039906

If you are cultured then you seem to understand some jokes better then others. Like knowing where a quote is from or character.

>> No.2039912

I do it because it makes my life seem more interesting (to myself, that is). Also helps me deal with my private neuroses.

>> No.2039917

how many uncultured people have actually done something good for the species?

>> No.2039922

>>2039901
>If we didn't value practicality we'd all be welfare bums living off of pity handouts.

or some of us would be rich people

>> No.2039930

>>2039917

The house you live in was built by "uncultured" people. "Uncultured" people protect you from getting robbed and raped at night. "Uncultured" people put out fires, fix your car, and in short "uncultured" people are the ones making sure you sleep safe at night.
You wouldn't have air conditioning or get to put ice in your tea in the summer if it wasn't for "uncultured" people maintaining and building the commodities that make that possible.

>> No.2039936
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It's fun.

If we didn't have fun things we'd all go crazy.

>> No.2039935

>>2039930

A cultured person designed the house. A cultured person came up with laws to protect everyone. Cultured people invented all those cars and commodities. Without cultured people the world would go to shit. Those 0,01% carry this entire species of imbeciles. From the caveman who invented the wheel to the geniuses and erudites that lived throughout history.

>> No.2039937

What is the benefit of getting laid?
It doesn't get you a job, so what does it do? Does it make you popular? Does it help you make friends? Does it make you cultured? Does it simply give you a sense of smug self-satisfaction?
Oh yeah, getting laid is its own benefit.

The actual answer to this question is that getting laid might help get some jobs, or make you popular in some circles, or help you get some friends. Being cultured is just the same; except the exact jobs, circles and friends may differ.

>>2039922
lol, it's kinda awkward phrasing but I think I know what you're getting at.

>> No.2039942

>>2039930
You have the extremely bizarre notion that having a normal job makes you 'uncultured.' You can stock shelves and still know your Wittgenstein.

>> No.2039943
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>>2039896
Oh god I'm fully agreeing with Capsguy somebody help me what's going on here

>> No.2039946

>>2039935
>A cultured person designed the house. A cultured person came up with laws to protect everyone.

Nah, the division of labour is such that you can highly specialize in one area and remain totally illiterate in others.
Going to a University and being hired by a government doesn't make you "cultured".

>> No.2039948

>>2039942

My original point was that you need cultured people to come up with cool stuff that all the imbeciles can benefit from. The rest of those cultured people are on par with the imbeciles. They don't contribute with anything relevant. Not saying that's terrible. My intention was to defend culture in general, not cultured people.

>> No.2039952

>>2039948
>people being forced to contribute to the welfare of the state, that's 'socialism'!
>he does nothing to contribute to society, he's such a loser.

American hypocrisy strikes again.

>> No.2039953

>>2039930

i know many a cultured carpenter

cultured cops? not so much

>> No.2039955

Hey guys, I'm deaf, and I just don't get music. Are you sure it's not some kind of peer pressure thing, or maybe pretension? I don't get how you could enjoy something I'm not able to. It would maybe mean that I'm missing out on something, and there's gots to be a way to persuade myself that I'm not, so's I can feel better about myself. Cough it up, I'm getting antsy here.

>> No.2039956

>>2039943

Well I think Capsguy is a pretty cool guy and yeah I am agreeing with him here too

>> No.2039967

>>2039955
Don't worry, music really does suck. It's a universal farce of unadmittance; we're all afraid to speak the socially kept secret that each of us finds no enjoyment in it.

>> No.2039975

High culture is identical with all that is good in the world and has ever been good in the world.

>> No.2039984
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Well I've been reading pretty consistently for as long as I can remember and the literature seminars at my university are 80% female.

>> No.2040002

A large supply of cultural capital will generally do everything that a large supply of actual capital (i.e. money) will do for you, sans buy things. So yeah, it would get you a job in exactly the same way wearing a nice suit to a job interview will get you a job (although admittedly it would most likely be to a lesser extent, depending on who's interviewing you. It would also then make you popular, give you more friends, and get you laid. You would be sorta correct in saying it gives you "a sense of smug self-satisfaction" but this would be fairly crass and pretty ovbiously one sided and not especially useful. If were being fair we would probably say it gives one an inflated or heightened sense of identity. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it can be a sort of status symbol.

Of course "being cultured" has other benefits that would be to lengthy to go over in the short time that I desire to type this post. I guess being cultured is often a good way to spend time, a good way to keep up your mental health and maybe even make people more ethical if were being liberal and particularly optimistic.

>> No.2040006

I've read everything by Stendahl, Tolstoy and Gogol. I've read Nabokov, Austen, Radcliffe and Bronte. I've read the works of T.R. Malthus and Adam Smith.

I've appeared in plays based on works by Goethe, Marlowe, and Sophocles as well as contemporary works by Miller and Levin.

I'm still a friendless virgin.

>> No.2040010

OP, we don't read and write poetry because it's CUTE. We read and write poetry because we are members of the HUMAN RACE. And the human race is filled with passion! And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love--THESE are what we stay alive FOR. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer--That you are here--that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play GOES ON, and YOU may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

>> No.2040021

>>2040006
dude ovbiously your a virgin you're consuming the wrong kind of culture. You need to be cultured in contemporary culture as well because that shit is just cool and without it you come of as romantic in a naive-high-school-kid-trying-to-be-an-intellectual sorta way. Read DFW and Franzen and listen to indie rock and hip hop and black metal (see: Pitchfork) and subscribe to McSweeney's and I promise chicks will be dropping their panties everywhere you go.

>> No.2040023

I simply like knowing things. It helps making me feel less like an idiot.

>> No.2040025

>>2040006
Yeah, being cultured implies some level of etiquette and poise; just knowing things makes you a NERD.

>> No.2040029

friends are for plebs.

>> No.2040032

>>2040010
wtf are you 15?

>> No.2040037

it changes the very essence of your being. Without knowledge you view the world through the cracked lens. I mean do you really want to let others to tell you how to think and feel or would you like to make up your own mind? Most people you meet in life don't have your best interests in mind.
On a deeply personal note and why not? I do hope your just trolling.

>> No.2040049

>>2040037
> I mean do you really want to let others to tell you how to think and feel or would you like to make up your own mind

aww, that's cute. He thinks he's a free thinker. Reminds me of my self in my younger and more naive years.

>> No.2040050

I read fiction a lot to be cultured and have that sense of smug self-satisfaction even though I believe reading and learning about physics and neuroscience would be far more useful in regards to understanding this world and us humans especially.

>> No.2040090

>>2039901
AND WHY NOT GET FAT? OH YEAH, BECAUSE OF THE SATISFACTION OF BEING HEALTHY

THING IS BRO, I'M NOT BEING HEDONISTIC, AND I'M NOT BEING PRACTICAL.YOU GOTTA REALIZE IT'S THE SAME SHIT. WE DON'T HAVE SEX TO MAKE BABIES, BUT THERE IS NO REASON TO HAVE SEX BESIDES MAKING BABIES.... AND SELF-SATISFACTION. SATISFACTION IS THE ILLUSION WE GET AND THE INNER REASON WE DO ANYTHING.

OP'S QUESTION IS TRICKY AND KIND OF POINTLESS. LIKE A CHILD THAT ASKS WHY TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH BUT DON'T NEED TO ASK WHY WATCH MORNING CARTOONS, OP IS MAKES IT SOUND AS IF BEING CULTURED IS MORE OR LESS USELESS THAN ANYTHING, WHEN IN FACT IT IS EXACTLY JUST AS USEFUL (OR JUST AS USELESS). WE DON'T NEED EXCUSES TO PROVE THAT OUR HABITS MAKE US FEEL GOOD, LIKE "HELPING THE SPECIES" OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BECAUSE IT'S NOT OUR INNER REASON TO DO IT. THE ONLY REASON TO POINT THAT OUT IS TO MOCK ALL THE OTHER "USELESS" ACTIVITIES, "OH, I READ BECAUSE BEING SMART IS BEST THING, U DUMB GYM RAT" "OH, I GOES TO GYM TO BE HEALTHY N STRONG, U DON'T USE UR BODY NERD" "I STUDY MATH BCUZ I DO SRS WORK BUILDING BRIDGE N MAKE PROGRESS". ALL BULLSHIT, YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT, EVERYTHING ELSE IS A SIDE EFFECT.

>> No.2040091

First, I assume you're talking about the usual concept of "cultured". That is, classical music, high literature, art, etc etc. I'm just making this distinction because it is possible to also be 'cultured' in TV from the 50s onwards. Maybe it's as valuable as the appreciation of I don't know, Moliere. Anyway,

A possible reason: people study literature and art because they like it. An end in itself, so to speak.

Another reason: it expands one's perception of the world. This is not usually the primary reason, and I advise against taking literature with such metaphysical gravitas. Or something like that. The main reason is the one given before, the 'for fun' reason.

It's not necessary to get your grill up with Hemingway and Wittgenstein and Lord Byron and whatever other highbrow writers and thinkers contained in history, to become more knowledgeable of the world. It helps, though! I would feel pretty sorry for some person who doesn't want to become more aware of themselves, people, or the world in which they live in.

>> No.2040104

Well excuse me for taking an interest in my own existence and that of my fellow creatures.

As it turns out, a lot of my fellow humans feel the same way. Being cultured allows me to connect with them. They don't even have to be alive anymore. Cultured people preserve writings, which is really handy if, say, you want to get a feel for Julius Caesar's mindset. Cultured people also have an easier time crossing into different cultures (surprise!). That's a very useful thing if you venture outside of your in-group. Cultured people also know things unrelated to the latest burger bargain, which gives them a basis for reasoning about how and why things are the way they are.

But mostly, cultured people are cultured people because that's how they're wired. Outside of schooling few people choose to read the Iliad in Ancient Greek (for example) to advance their career.

>> No.2040117

>jobs
>popular
>friends
>laid

I am cultured so that I don't have to depend on any of the above.

>> No.2040156

I am fluent in three languages. I can get by in five more. I can say basic stuff in about ten more. I've read all the big classics from ancient times. I am fully versed in the various philosophical streams and their origins. I enjoy plays and can critique them, as well as any kinds of books. I am a good cook and have lots of nutritional data, I can dance the formal stuff, I can give speeches, I know history and the important developments of (mostly Western) civilization, I can make fire, survive in the woods, kill and butcher animals. I've learned to fight through training and experience. I can comfort the grieving for the dead and can share in the joy of new life. I've dived in most of the oceans, jumped out of planes, climbed mountains and ski'd off of more.

Being cultured is not something you get by reading a few books, it's about living life and learning about cultures past and ones that are around right now. Also, figure out what it means to be human.

>> No.2040163

>>2040156

Heinlein would like you.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

>> No.2040181

I don't really know what you mean by "cultured". If you mean to ask what the benefit of being well-read is, I would say it increases one's general knowledge, worldliness, and, perhaps, wisdom.

>> No.2040183

>>2040156
>Being cultured is being Batman
ftfy

>> No.2040185

Life is more fun and more efficient when you have a wealth of cultural reference points through which you can connect to other people.

>>2039875
also this

>> No.2040226

>>2040156
How old are you? I wanna suck your dick

>> No.2040235

The act of asking if being cultured is worthwhile is, itself, a cultured act. The question itself engages issues of value, purpose, and morality. When you ask the question in such loaded terms there is the implication that behind your questioning is a better alternative. Establishing something as a better alternative requires the very culture that is, implicitly, mocked.

That's why.

>> No.2040240

I'm going to go with smug self satisfaction.

>> No.2040351

>>2040163
Should a human also be able to disagree with Heinlein?

>> No.2040360
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>implying it doesn't help you get a job
>Implying it doesn't help you find valuable friends
>implying it doesn't get me laid