/lit/ - Literature

>>17794445
stop thinking in literal memes you underage retard

>>17794445
obligatory, but genuine:

>>17794450
But the meme defines my problem.
>>17794451
Wait, really?

Unironically

>>17794461
Your problem is that you are lazy with a short attention span, probably you also don't have sex. Everything else you think is your "problem" is an elaborate cope

>>17794467
No. You don't understand. I'm talking about thought vs action. If you spend too much time thinking, you won't have the time to take the action. On the contrary, if you take an action without any forethought, you'll fail at what you're doing. All I'm asking is book that explores this dilemma?

become the 20 year old READER
reads books
compelled by belief that intellect is a mountainous structure and he must read his way through increasingly challenging texts to discover the peak.

>>17794489
>>17794485

>>17794493
oh then i recommend money. lots of money. an obscene amount of money. otherwise you're stuck with moldy old books shitposting on 4chan.

>>17794489
>>17794445
Am i unironically speaking to 19 and 20 year olds?

>>17794445
he doesn't have to read anything more, he has to apply what he reads to his actions and act of his own accord in line with his beliefa

>>17794503
Always assume you are a decade older than posters on lit. It wil make it easier.
T.
Shitfaced anon

>>17794502
How would that help?
>>17794503
Guide us through your wisdom, Grandpa?

>>17794503
Yeah

>>17794515
But how does he know when's the right time to act? What if he makes a mistake that could've been avoided had he waited for some time, to gain new information?

>>17794517
>>17794520
>>17794523
I'm 23 and I already feel like I'm outgrowing this site. My only advice as a barely older anon? Pretty cliche: don't waste time, it moves very quickly. Your 20s are extremely important for your development, every week counts. Get off this website or at least limit your time

>>17794520
money would help because money is action in a society predicated on the dollar. it is your social status, it is your ability to get around, it is where you eat, who you meet, your nutrition, your strength, your intellect, how much free time you have, how much privacy you have. money is not everything, but everything costs money. if you want to act, you must have money and it must be such an amount that you are unafraid of spending it because that would be paralyzing and lead you to inaction.

>>17794534
the key is experience: if he does not act in the first place, how is he to know how to act well? experience is necessary for action, learning is just a part of it. If one makes a mistake, one learns from it (hopefully) and acts in accordance with one's experience and education. If one does not learn, then it is the fault of lack of education and/or lack of experience, the degree of which is subjective on one's education and/or experience

>>17794541
This makes sense, I guess. I suppose having money as goal does help.
>>17794539
How would you deal with?>>17794534

>>17794552
Thanks. Looking it that way does help. I'm always afraid to take an action because I'm reminded of the times I failed because I acted without thinking.

>>17794445
>reading to become a man of action
stop reading and go outside you lazy cunt. It's literally the only solution. Conscious thought was a mistake

>>17794539
I spent my 20s drunk and out or at home gaming. I regret the gaming part. Multi player games that aren’t real world counterparts like mahjong are fucking useless. Mahjong has, like smoking, netted me friends for the bad choice I made. I’d like the 5000 hours of Tf2 and dota2 back please. I spent them wrong.
T.
Drunk and 29

Read Notes from Underground and you will understand why one has to be a thinker in a sea of men of action

>>17794539
>I'm 23 and I already feel like I'm outgrowing this site
I will be 37 this year. I had the same feeling when I was your age. You will be stuck here forever. There is no escape.

>>17794569
Agree
*fires up another Western Rome playthrough of Total War Atilla

>>17794569
based and 29pilled

>>17794569
>5000 hours
that's like 2/3 of a year, not to mention the time surrounding it that fed into gaming
sorry bro

>>17794579
Will do. But isn't someone who takes no action considered a failure?

>>17794464
Highly-based and BAPpilled

>>17794580
>You will be stuck here forever. There is no escape
nah nigga I'm leaving tomorrow ahahahahahaha

>>17794587
If I get up a rank on mahjong soul I’ll finally prove myself.
>>17794590
Hope you heed my warning. Games like dark souls or other single player experiences aren’t so bad. It’s the ones that profit off your time that are the evil ones.
>>17794593
It’s all good man, not like I can’t do anything about the past now. Except I’m drunk right now. So I’m wasting time again. But that’s derivative and salacious. Anyway. Heed the warnings of a boomer. Be selective of the media you consume.

>>17794601
See you next week, Anon.

reminder that they fuck you up purposefully so you are totally incapacitated, confused, hating life, atomized, and wageslaving for them and there is nothing you can do about it because the threat of violence is overwhelming.

>>17794607
Don't waste the time invested, go to China and defeat old men in parks. Word of your skills will spread and the best grandpas from around the nation will challenge you

>>17794610
y-you're just baiting r-right?

I'm turning 25 in a month and I dont feel like I should be halfway through my 20s. I have a nice job with a future, lifelong friends, am cultivating some fun hobbies, and read daily, which are good positives. But on the other hand I'm a virgin who's touched a vagina once. I'm not sure how to fix this, my friends are all men and apps are demoralizing. Also I keep having the crushing feeling that I don't really know how to do anything. My job amounts to manipulating sales data in excel all day. My boss is interested in cultivating me and has told me I could do whatever I wanted but I just feel like I don't have any real skills like coding or engineering or finance. I wish I had majored in something useful instead of economics. Or petroleum engineering or the maritime academy so I could at least go on adventures. I'm 25 and the most adventurous thing I've done is got drunk at college. Where does someone like me find adventure? I feel so milquetoast.

>>17794626
So, unironically, I just found out the old man that lives next door to me, recently widowed, plays hongkong rules. Our family has always been distant with them but since the matriarchs passing I have personally been checking up on him on the children’s behalf. My mahjong will actually grow community and befriend others. I’m so fucking excited.

>>17794637
can't offer any advice but I can say I'm in a similar position. My life is decent but I feel like I'm wasting it, don't know where I can find real adventure. The whole "walk through a third world country" thing feels very artificial. You don't have an overarching goal you need to achieve and adventure is found in that path, its "looking for adventure" as an end goal, which is weak. I might be sent to a very different part of the world for work in the next couple of years, I'm hoping something comes out of that

>>17794664
You should play the stably parable and learn about decision making.

>>17794667
I'm not going to play it so you should just tell me what it says

>>17794664
Yeah the whole travel to the Third World thing is a surrogate for adventure, but it's not adventure itself because there's no actual goal. I think going to a strange place for work can qualify. I just wish my work was more concrete and meaningful. Marketing is just such ephemeral bullshit. But I don't even know how I would get to a more fulfilling type of job without taking on a shit ton of debt by getting a second bachelor's, which I've only read as having destroyed people's lives.

>>17794682
Do you live in California? The cc to UC system is really nice if you want to get another degree. Community college would be basically free, then you transfer in as a junior paying in state public tuition. I got a degree from ucla and paid around 10k total for everything doing this and applying for a scholarship

>>17794688
Nah I'm in New Jersey. At this point I'll probably just stick it out a few years then go for an MBA from a top school and hopefully one day I'll have enough money to properly occupy my ennui. I can complain about having a stable job, I have friends with degrees who are much worse off. I just wish I'd have done something that led to travel or fulfillment. I'd do it differently if I could do it all again.

>>17794697
far out suggestion, Phd in economics, then go teach in foreign universities. I have a friend who does this. He's in Brazil now, was in the UAE before that Malaysia before that and Portugal before that. Never once taught in an american uni

>>17794709
I've though of getting my PhD but that is an interesting spin on it. Does he not have to speak the native language?

>>17794633
If you're serious about leaving (assuming you're on Windows): download ColdTurkey and enable their default Distraction filter, it includes 4channel and 4chan. Set it for however long you wish to not use this site. It is a very inconvenient application to get around and will help you leave here if you want to.

>>17794445
why tf do you think you solve a problem like this by reading more of other people's thoughts you colossal retard. go and DO something that you want to DO

>>17794445
Read Nike commercials

>>17794824
Because I don't have any experiences of my own, I am hoping I can and kearn from others experiences.

>>17794855
learn*. Also, I'm scared of messing up.

>>17794849
>not watching the Shia Labeouf rendition of "Just Do It" instead
ngmi

>>17794637
I learnt finance on the job, was shadowing for the CFO in 18 months. It's so fucking easy and most people who work in it just do the same 3 simple processes over and over every day, with no idea how their process affects anything else, for 30 years. It really doesn't take much to take a top position if youve got a guy who'll let you get good

>/lit/erature board.
>Only 3 books posted, none discussed.

>>17794855
>>17794875
youre making an excuse to continue not doing anything even while trying to pursue the goal of doing something. decide on something you want to do and start doing it. you can supplement with reading, but the actual actions need to be primary if you want to get something done. spend a bit of time each day doing something tangible that progresses towards the goal aside from reading, and read in the evenings for inspiration.

>>17794954
4chan needs an existential crisis board

>>17794637
I wish I was you. I have no career, no stable job, only one friend. I do have a girlfriend though, and constantly changing (shitty) jobs has give me lots of experiences that I wish to put into writing eventually.

>>17794955
You're right. Thank you.

>>17794464
This.
Sit on twitter all day retweeting homoerotica.
I'M ACCCCCTTTOOOOOIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!

>>17794445
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle

>happiness is the ultimate human good
>happiness requires virtues of character and thought
>the preconditions of virtue are voluntary action and responsibility
etc

>>17794539
I'm 32 and I've been here 10 years, although I wasn't on the site regularly for the first few years, just occasionally browsing. 4chan was never good but holy shit was it less bad 7 or 8 years ago.

>>17794445
nothing, just act, if you already think a lot you're fine to start acting
just don't hurt anybody or get obsessive and you're good

>>17794445
I spend all day ddaydreaming jobs and lives I'll never have/live

>>17794598
Read that book only to avoid behaving like the protagonist. Please don't become a man on inaction.

- Have a goal
- Write down the means to achieve it
- Learn the Trivium
- Start lifting
You can find more of pic related on /lit's recommendations. I also suggest you start daily journaling, or at least writing down your goals for the day because it keeps you centered.

>>17794637
>I'm a virgin who's touched a vagina once.
Hey, you're ahead of me, I've had a couple girlfriends but all long distance.
>I'm not sure how to fix this, my friends are all men and apps are demoralizing.
Keep pursuing those hobbies, especially that can get you in the same place as women. Some are better for this than others but even something male-dominated like D&D has some women in it and even some you'd like.
Alternatively go down the road of Kik and Discord and chat up people there. You'll likely only find something long distance unless you live near a sizable city, but since you have a nice job you should be able to go out and meet whoever you may find and get them to move in with you eventually or be able to move in with them.
If you want to go into even deeper waters there's Fetlife. If you have even one fetish and can stomach other people's fetishes at all as well as enduring some NPCish talk (like people posting about their pets and their job and their partner and other shit I feel like people rarely care about) and cringy talk (BDSM people that didn't grow up on the Internet or only used Facebook tend to be rather cliche with what they're into and how they express it). If you're not literally deformed, don't have very high standards for looks, and just want to get experience that's a good route to take. They have these public meetups where they shoot the shit and after you go to a few and demonstrate you're not some ogling creeper you can ask about more private events and you may get invited to a sex party.
>Also I keep having the crushing feeling that I don't really know how to do anything.
Most people don't know how to do jack shit. Again, keep up those hobbies. If there's one that can make you money or just one that can turn a bad day into a good day, focus on that.
>Where does someone like me find adventure? I feel so milquetoast.
Try traveling, you don't even have to go that far. If you live in the country visit the city and check out the architecture and restaurants and any historical places. If you live in the city go out to the country and go hiking, maybe drink some water from a river and build yourself a fire (but obviously be careful not to get dysentery or start a forest fire, research first or go with an /out/ friend). You can even start right here on 4chan, /o/ and /k/ have semi-regular meetups, if you're into anime there are anime conventions all over the place (though you'll have to wait until covid blows over).

>>17794464
Literally this.
Fourth post best post.

>>17794451
Based Well-Rounded Citizen

>>17794445
Hegel

>>17794637
Not really saying you shouldn't do shit but you're already better off than many people on this website.

>>17795484
Where specially?

>>17794445
No

I’ve achieved professional success. However, I feel a lot like a thinker

>>17794626
Excellent post

>>17795178
>>17795535
When I graduated college it took me like a full year to get this real job, in the mean time I was just working part time jobs like working at a gym or doing data entry. I know what it's like and I was definitely feeling shitty back then but it was different I guess. That was a general anxiety about not advancing in life at all. This is more of an abstract sort of "well am I just going to work this comfortable-but-boring job my entire life?" It's the golden handcuffs, it makes you enough money to be comfortable and passive but not enough to change your life and it doesn't lead to any real interesting experiences.

>>17794897
How did you get a job in finance with no formal credentials? Financial jobs seem obsessed with credential posturing.

>>17795361
Lmao my hobbies are very solitary/masculine. I've never met a girl fishing or surfing. Traveling imo is a surrogate activity for real adventure. It's like going on Tinder and saying you're looking to get married. A real adventure should be you being forced out of your comfort zone to accomplish some kind of goal, not a leisurely vacation. I think the military traditionally fulfilled this role in modern America but I don't want to join the military with the kind of gay shit they're pushing now.

>>17794637
Since you have a good job you should be able to afford an adventurous type of vacation. Go climb a mountain or something.

>>17796329
>>17796552
Oh, you've already said that's not a "real adventure." Your criteria are fairly arbitrary, if you want to do something just go do it. Why do you care if it's part of something "higher" or whatever?

>>17796587
>>17796552
There's nothing arbitrary about what I've said. Aimlessly walking around some Third World country to take all the right pictures is not an adventure. If sheltered middle class white women do it en masse then you can be sure there's nothing adventurous about it.

>>17796660
I'm not talking about doing third world tourism. You're from Jersey, right? Go spend a couple days on the AT, or any trail where you will be able to spend a couple days in relative isolation. You don't have to take any pictures or brag to anyone, just do it for yourself.

>>17794445
Read Mishima essays unironically

>>17794569
I started playing Dota 2 when I was 10 fucking years old. That was more than 8 years ago. 4000 hours later I wonder where I would be now if I never launched that game for the first time. Also 2,5k hours on Counter Strike, what the fuck is wrong with me

>>17797338
Uh... Based department?

>>17794467
>Your problem is that you are lazy with a short attention span
and how does one fix that

>>17794503
most of 4chan is probably underaged

>>17794445
You need to take control of the life your given

>>17794503
There's a surprising conflux of 30yo boomers on this board. You aren't the only one wasting their time yelling at the damn kids who think Nietzche was a "nihilist."

>>17794503
Why are you sad about that? Do you not want to engage and possibly influence newer generation for the better? Or do you just wish to consort with your own kind and regurtitate the same feelings and ideas over and over without even the chance of helping out younger people?

>>17797456
By practicing. Close your computer, silence your phone and put it out of reach, do the thing you want to do (whether it's reading, painting, playing music, whatever) without interruption for at least half an hour. Do this daily and increase the amount of time as you are able to. Eventually you won't even need the timer anymore, and you may be able to stand up to mild distractions from your phone without much trouble as well.

>>17797523
I'm not that other guy, but I have serious doubts about being able to influence anyone for the better on 4chan.

>>17794445
being a man of action is fucking gay

>>17794503
This is one of the reasons I’ve stopped going to /mu/ and will never go back. It’s impossible trying to get hyped meme machine zoomers to understand that music CAN be enjoyed.

>>17797889
/mu/ loves Can though

>>17797899
You haven’t been there in a while then. Post a CAN thread and see how it goes.

>>17798203
>You haven’t been there in a while then
True

>>17794464
read this and thought it just seemed like thinly veiled political screeching reminiscent of twitter. do people seriously recommend this?

>>17798295
People love thinly veiled screeching of all kinds as long as it reinforces their beliefs

>>17798295
Quote where it sounds like screeching, I read this years ago but I remember it being super calm and pretty funny.

>>17794503
I am literally 19 and have been shitposting since I was 12.

>>17794814
It seems you've tried this and failed.

>>17794503
I'm 18

>>17794445
learn an instrument. At least solves the ''imagines himself as the artist'' problem. I recommend the guitar or piano, things you can play while singing so you can play popular songs and eventually write your own.

>>17794445
I read more so I can have more things to think about, sometimes I even write

How do I stop thooonking? It will probably drive me to baldness and to madness if I don't stop, I'm in a constant state of hypothetical thinking which leads me into a perpetual state of stress & anxiety

>>17799069
Interesting. Does not thinking scare you?

>>17799069
>>17799390
Not. But I spent a lot of time thinking so it should at least be about interesting things. Thinking has done more harm than good to my happiness, I feel like I am constantly getting psyoped, whether that be the bs news pushing covid fear propaganda, subliminal commercials on tv in the backround, or even things i like like anime and vidya, everything is a weapon to steal my mind.

>>17794445
OP, check out "A Clockwork Orange", but make sure it's the British version. The American version is censured.

>>17799600
Censure and censor are different words

>>17794464
Mah name Jamal

>>17795359
good advice

>>17794503
69 year old here

All this anxiety over how to spend your life is illusory. Virtuous people end up in ruts all the time. Just as reprobates fall ass backwards into good fortune. Should do something other than sit on the computer all day? I guess, but I only marginally. Plenty of bad shit and a whole lot of nothing happens to you outside the house as it does inside it. By all means, go and do shit, but don't be surprised when it is as futile as your computer addiction.

>>17797717
>>17797456
Seconding this. Abandoning the computer and phone may sound like boomer advice, but it's legitimately a huge life upgrade. Go take a book somewhere quiet and just focus on something.

>>17801440
How di you work without a phone?

>>17794445
Eumeswil is a decent read that will inspire you to be your best self.
The best thing you can do is go to college, learn a trade, and maybe start a book club or two about obscure /lit/-recs. That will help you meet people and have interesting convos with intellectuals.
The problem is that there isn't a whole lot of adventure in the world today. Travel, war, adventure, exoticism, that's all the stuff of multi-polar world orders. For as long as America dominates, you are expected to toe the line in propaganda, and people going to far off lands to fight in wars aren't seen as heroic adventurers anymore, they're seen as perverts who are rocking the boat too much and should be considered a threat. The only time people advance social status dramatically in short periods of time is during wars and natural disasters. During times of peace, the ruling class is mostly concerned with gate-keeping wealth and status for themselves until they die of old age.

anon is it possible you're making it a strict black-and-white situation where none warrants?

i recommend reading eckhart tolle, if you can get past the mystical humbo jumbo