/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.7296738]

Is irony bullshit in contemporary culture?

The way I see it, we already live in a society teeming at the brim with apathy, with loneliness, with fear, and with general sadness. So, why should we perpetrate that further with irony? with negativity? Why should we be as bullshit as the world we live in?

I dunno, maybe I'm gay.

[Anonymous No.7296780]

But if you suffer from anemia, you really ought to take some supplements for it.

[Anonymous No.7296794]

Irony is armor against the acquisitive dragon of loneliness.

[Anonymous No.7296797]

>>7296738
You have a flawed understanding of irony, as do most people who have similar criticisms. It's not an inherently negative, apathetic, or dishonest thing.

[Anonymous No.7296798]

>>7296738
Thank neo liberalism/leftism for promoting a culture and society of fear, anxiety, and insecurity

[Anonymous No.7296805]

>>7296798
That shits been around since the beginning.

[Anonymous No.7296808]

>>7296798

[Anonymous No.7296827]

>>7296798
That's backwards. The left-liberals actually want you to feel that everything is going great, and liberal-capitalism will bring about global peace and prosperity for all.
It was the neocons who wanted to feed the MIC by replacing the cold war with the war on terra'ism and beef up a police state.

Adjust your worldview m88

[Anonymous No.7296968]

>>7296827
The left-liberals always find shit to complain about it ain't "everythings going great".

>>7296738
Idk whats with DFW making everyone think like you OP, but you can be life-affirming/optimistic through ironic means. Irony != cynicism

[Anonymous No.7296993]

>>7296968
The leftists in general know damn well things aren't right with this world, but the "moderates" and right-liberals *like* the status quo just fine.

They've offered crisis management strategies for decades now. Now we got lgbt rights checked off the list. Gee thanks. Should have done that in the ages ago. Would ya mind switching off the fossil fuels now?

[Anonymous No.7297082]

>>7296827
I'm in complete agreement about the neocons, it's the neocons and neoliberals, the liberals going on about microaggression and fat shaming and mommy government providing all needs and taking all responsibilities (and in turn liberties) off the backs of the individual human

[Anonymous No.7297240]

>>7296968
>The left-liberals always find shit to complain about it ain't "everythings going great".

Complaining about social injustice generally comes from anger and resentment, not anxiety. That's where the bipartisan US go go commando international anti-communaziterrorist task force swoops in to save the day.

[Anonymous No.7297248]

>>7296797

He specifically mentions irony in contemporary culture. I don't think anyone is disagreeing with the fact that it is not inherently apathetic (it is inherently negative), but the way it finds manifestation today, I think OP is onto something.

[Anonymous No.7297301]

>>7297248
>(it is inherently negative)

Please support this claim

[Anonymous No.7297753]

>>7296738
cynicism is great to pretend like you're both educated of the problems in the world and calm in the face of said troubles

aka perfect for the average person who neither knows/cares about the problems of the world or is able to spend enough time thinking about them to see how shitty they really are

it's a great way to avoid any genuine conversation too, or expose your feelings/vulnerabilities in my opinion.

cynicism and what you meant by irony is comfortable and for the most people, comfortable is good enough.

i dunno i might be wrong.

[Anonymous No.7297760]

>>7297753
cynicism to me is just a great way to feign an understanding or acceptance of the shitty things that can happen to people that really don't deserve it

i feel like self deprecation is kind of a similar notion, take the piss out of yourself so others can't and so others think you are accepting of your flaws. acts kind of like a shield so you don't seem naive. im probably rambling but it's something i've thought about before as well

[Anonymous No.7297765]

>>7296738

le sincere bandana man of poopy faces meme

[Anonymous No.7297767]

>>7297753
Sincerity is making yourself and others vulnerable.

[Anonymous No.7297791]

>>7297767
The masochist or the Peter Pan American prefers sincerity. The New Romantic on the other hand hews towards mockery for the sake of mockery.

[Anonymous No.7297793]

Irony is only permissible as a pedagogic expedient, on the part of a teacher when dealing with his pupils; its purpose is to humble and to shame, but in the wholesome way that causes good resolutions to spring up and teaches people to show honor and gratitude, as they would to a doctor, to him who has so treated them. The ironical man pretends to be ignorant, and does it so well that the pupils conversing with him are deceived, and in their firm belief in their own superior knowledge they grow bold and expose all their weak points; they lose their cautiousness and reveal themselves as they are, until all of a sudden the light which they have held up to the teacher's face casts its rays back very humiliatingly upon themselves. Where such a relation, as that between teacher and pupil, does not exist, irony is a rudeness and a vulgar conceit. All ironical writers count on the silly species of human beings, who like to feel themselves superior to all others in common with the author himself, whom they look upon as the mouthpiece of their arrogance. Moreover, the habit of irony, like that of sarcasm, spoils the character; it gradually fosters the quality of a malicious superiority; one finally grows like a snappy dog, that has learned to laugh as well as to bite.

http://www.lexido.com/EBOOK_TEXTS/HUMAN_ALL_TOO_HUMAN_BOOK_ONE_.aspx?S=372

[Anonymous No.7297836]

>>7297767
So... bullshitting for the sake of bullshitting?

[Twiggy !zf/ZW7mGp6 No.7297895]

Neither irony nor negativity have anything to do with apathy, loneliness, fear, and sadness. If anything, society needs more of those four things. There are too many narcissistic fat girls intoxicated on euphoria-inducing drugs viewing themselves at top-tilt angles filtered through Instagram. The monomaniacal attempt to reduce all moods and emotions to happy (permit) not-happy (evade) is another wing of the drive to reduce experiential complexity to experiential simplicity. It is a means to falsify reality for easy-consumption by the dumb, lifeless majority. The commercialization and cheapening of inner experience, the contentment in the artificial flower in place of pricking your finger in the thorny rose bush.

[Anonymous No.7298423]

>>7297753

A person who actually knows/cares about the problems of the world and is able to spend enough time thinking about them to see how shitty they really are would be a cynic too right?

So we have two sorts of cynics. The ones whose cynicism is justified and the ones who have a shallow and feeble grasp of the concept and use it as a facade with pretension.

This is the case with adopting almost any line of thought. There will always be two set of people. The ones who have a strong grasp of that ideology and the pretentious ones who adopt it without expending any energy and put up a shallow and thin facade of having an understanding of it.

>it's a great way to avoid any genuine conversation too, or expose your feelings/vulnerabilities in my opinion.

Absolutely. I've had multiple conversations with "cynics" who fail to put up a coherent and cohesive justification for their cynicism when asked to do so.


However my question is this, at what point would you begin believing that a person's cynicism is justified? Is there a requirement for one to have witnessed/observed/noticed something truly tragic and appreciated it's problematic nature in full extent to be considered a cynic?