/lit/ - Literature

read stanley cavell

>>9856424
>Ever since I've gotten into philosophy and literature, I feel like I have been slowly going insane, becoming unhappier and unhappier. Everything that I once took for granted is now on shaky territory.

Good, it means it is working and you are doing right.
Now, start making your life have meaning by your own hands, and achiev full potencial of yourself.

>>9856424
Oh yeah, "The Stranger" by Albert Camus pass such a feel.
When I read that book I feel one absurd loniless and that I was in some kind of feverish wasteland of madness.
Some things in that book just sounded surreal and I loved every second of that book.
Is a very short book.

>every thought process that I have is usurped by another, every belief by another. i will die in this painful uncertainty with nothing internally resolved. someone, help me.

that is the *only way to go* anon. that is how it is to unplug from meme reality. if you are crazy enough to have gotten to this point you are crazy enough to get past it also. at which point you will not be crazy
>says the confirmed schizoposter
but Interesting. and able to look back on all the ridiculous shit you used to think and say, wow, i can't believe i used to believe that. now look at all this crazy shit i believe now

and so it goes. that was my experience anyways. no advice no solutions all tunnel. good luck anon. aim for antifragility

heh, welcome to the water, kid

>>9856424
>I will die in this painful uncertainty with nothing internally resolved.

The uncertainty will remain but it needn't be painful.

Yeah that's the idea.

You'll find that you can trust yourself more and more though. Not only quantitatively but qualitatively too.

>>9856424
I'm very interested in the thoughts that make you feel like you're going insane. Would really appreciate it if some anons would try to make some greentext.

>I can never know anything for certain
>or can I?
>I believe in causality (do I?)
>then I don't have free will
>then I can't really control what I do
>but believing this I lose control
>maybe believing in self-efficacy is a basic human need
>can't know stuff for sure anyway, maybe I try believing something else
>wait - maybe this is all wrong, how can I know for sure the logic I use is correct
>am I thinking? am I?
>say there's a set of rules for reality you can describe mathematically
>say there's causality
>say someone could write down every infinitely small causal step in time using this formula
>everything on paper since big bang turns out like it did in reality
>why the fuck write it down in the first place - if it exists as an idea, isn't it technically real?
>well, that's the only ontology I've ever come across that justifies the existence of the universe
>humans are essentially f(x)
>can't stop believing in this
>can't get any more nihilist
>google
>find mathematical universe hypothesis
>guy released something like this (?) as physics
>think that's retarded
>never look into it again
>become less and less interested in metaphysics because we can't know shit anyway
>overwhelming sense of existential nihilism remains

>>9856424

lol brainlet just do what u feel
all philosiphies eventually lead to this or dogmatism
fucking stupid

>>9856770
>become less and less interested in metaphysics because we can't know shit anyway
does not compute

>overwhelming sense of existential nihilism remains
computes

still tho. dat consciousness. wat do? wat do

the tao doesn't have all the answers ofc. i just think it has a helpful way of comporting yourself to the weirdness in which The Answers can maybe percolate out of the nihilism - as art, as science, as philosophy, as whatever.

what are you working on anon? do you do math stuff? science stuff? theory stuff? i mean to me nihilism is the baseline condition - nick land's wild ride and the rest - but it's more about the speculative opportunities this affords more than anything else. total bewilderment is where things begin to get interesting, imho. dem dark attractors & receptors. dat quantum physics & human consciousness. & the very real need for cross-connections b/t art & science & philosophy

just venturing that, fwiw. i think deleuze is right: the deal isn't eternity but chaos. the plane of immanence is very creative. just have to find something interesting to do with it that is interesting enough to keep you going

>>9856424
>any books for this feel

Yes: take regular breaks from discursive thinking. During this time you contemplate the Lotus Sutra. This, if succesful − a mighty big if − will not merely keep you sane but be transform (your) empirical reality, in a very direct, non-conceptual way.

>>9856424
OP I know this exact feel. especially when you start reading older literature, see how beautiful it can get and how much of a different version of the world you experience, then when you're done you come back and have this weird feeling of slight disgust at where we are now.

why do you think so many writers become alcoholics? because they can see this shit everywhere and you can make a lot of connections about the society we live in, most of those connections being negative.

I don't know what to say except read less, try to find more love and go outdoors more. go into nature. that will help you find happiness.

>>9856813
dude what the fuck are you saying. I don't understand anything that is coming out of your mouth

>>9856813
>does not compute
Care to elaborate? What I meant is while all philosophy is pretty much a dead end in the sense of true if something else is true, metaphysics is the deadest end of them all and therefore just not that interesting for me. I can accept what I greentexted (several years ago) as well as the existence of something like a god.

Agree with pretty much everything you said. That's were I want to be. Actually, I Wish I had a mentor like you. I mean, I can get excited for the doors nihilism opens up because I'm human, but thinking about it this fades rather quickly. I can never feel positive about it deep down.

>>9856974
>dude what the fuck are you saying
acceleration a thing
deleuze is interesting
also laozi

using your brain to make fun & interesting stuff is cool, thinking interesting stuff is interesting. try not to lose your shit in the process. it's not easy. consciousness is mysterious. depression is real. we know little

>I don't understand anything that is coming out of your mouth
that's ok. i'm not always trying for coherence. i echolocate. sometimes i just make whale-sounds. i'm weird like that

>>9856984
>Care to elaborate?
the problem is that we cannot say we do *not* know because we know exactly how it feels when we encounter someone who *does* now and then suddenly, we also know.

some other wise anon said this: until you actually understand the laws of quantum physics, they might as well not exist for you. now: i am going - with great trepidation - to suggest that something *analogous* to this process has also been my experience v/theory. i didn't know why anyone should care about heidegger until i read him. then i could not shut up. i did not know why anyone should care about plato until i read him. then i could not shut up. i did not
>you get the idea.

people *do* discover *ridiculous* things in the world of metaphysics. everything with me is butterflies in my stomach. it happens time and again. i think, I'm The Only One Who Sees This. much neurotic static follows. and then i realize lacan or deleuze or girard or whoever not only knows this, but has articulated it all far far far better than i can. and then i share what little i can with the next guy, and they go, Wow, That's Fucking Cool, I Thought So Too. and you are *alleviated* of that feeling, and able to - do what? fuck i don't know. *get fucking bent up with something else*

it's like that, imho. shit is *not* supposed to be obscurantist, arcane, or invite *snobbery.* very very much the opposite: it's about busting people out of private panopticons, of ideology.

the real thing: is there *any alternative to ideology?* i would say no, unless it's something much much different: vast networks of Interesting people being collectively Interested.

i will shitpost this clip *again:*

McLuhan: Good Luck Bucko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x6725NW8vw

>What I meant is while all philosophy is pretty much a dead end in the sense of true if something else is true

>Mongol General: Hao! Dai ye! We won again! This is good, but what is best in life?
>Mongol: The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.
>Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?

what is best in life, anon? is it conan? conan too has existential problems. even when he is sitting on that giant throne:

>hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

gigantic melancholies, gigantic mirth.

(cont'd)

>>9857091
this is your brain on continental philosophy folks

>>9857091
as a wise person once said, new discoveries in philosophy are not made by proving anyone wrong, but by proving everyone (or at least a good portion of them) *right.* we haven't hit the limits of philosophy yet and we are not *going* to hit those limits for a very very long time. there's too much other shit in play: culture, economics, tech, you name it. just too much shit
>and it wigs us out trying to incorporate it all

>I can accept what I greentexted (several years ago) as well as the existence of something like a god.
awesome. and you know what else? *it's pretty fucking interesting too.* but if it is destroying your will to live, or your curiosity, or whatever else, then maybe that is worth paying attention to. maybe some new gods need to come in. or maybe no gods. or maybe a career in the WWE. who knows.

dead ends feel dead because they are dead. but *good luck keeping things that way* - because we live in a world of constant and ridiculous change & it fucks with us. we have to keep adapting. and the more we adapt, the more interesting things happen. until you get lucky and get to die on a waterbed surrounded by prostitutes and blow. or whatever. you get what i am saying. when you have had Enough.
>but i am not yet satisfied

>Agree with pretty much everything you said. That's where I want to be.
cool. and here's the funny thing with me: i don't like change. i want to be a boring lighthouse keeper in a world where nothing really happens. excess chaos messes with me. i dislike too much contingency. it can't be avoided, but it screws with my head. i like based tranquility and cheeseburgers. that is literally *all* i want. and maybe a holodeck

>Actually, I wish I had a mentor like you.
kek. *no you do not.* here's the thing with me: *i do not do mentoring.* no mentoring! none. i will tag along with the party & do what i do but no mentoring. i used to be in the advice-giving business and i am out of that now. trying to give *less* advice
>& it is not easy either
>& so one must be *humble*
>v v *humble*
>& v v *quiet*

>I mean, I can get excited for the doors nihilism opens up because I'm human, but thinking about it this fades rather quickly
it will come back. bet that. unless you are doing everything right, in which case - do more that

>I can never feel positive about it deep down.
nope. you can not. but that's how it is. it's not about all-in positivity. it's about *balance* in *chaos* pic rel: how about this? how about this. the slogan of based captain nemo. and captain nemo did nothing wrong:

>his emblem, as given in a description of the flag he raised when claiming Antarctica, is a large golden N on a black field. the motto of the Nautilus was Mobilis in Mobili, roughly translated from Latin as, "moving amidst mobility", "moving within the moving element", or "changing in the changes"

>>9857102
yep

RIP /lit/ reddit is here.

>>9857132
i have made a grand total of one (1) post on reddit, and it will be the only one. i roll /lit/ and only /lit/

>and i keep telling myself i am going to roll out of this place but it's just too darn fun
>y so much fun /lit/
>y so much fun
>but roll i must
>argh
>must roll
>hate rolling
>being covered in moss > rolling
>hnng moss
>hnng swamps
>hnng weird fungus-thing

>take your pills josh
>ok

>>9856424
You're becoming a Patrician, OP. Onward to death and glory my friend.

>>9856424
That's what's supposed to happen you stupid fuck
Now do something about it

>>9856555
what the hell is water?

>>9857126
I know there's a lot of shitposters trying to detract from your posts, but I always appreciate them, fag.

>>9856424
You're slightly more awake to the horror that has always surrounded you. It's hard to believe but I think some people go their entire lives without opening their eyes at all.

>>9856634
This. Knowledge really is power. No matter how horrifying the truth may be you can always turn it to your advantage and the advantage of others.

I would also suggest finding someone to speak to about it in person with. Also, just because some big name philosopher claims something as obviously true, it doesn't make it so. You need to break free from the inevitable idealisations of these towering figures.

>>9857214
>I know there's a lot of shitposters trying to detract from your posts
wouldn't be /lit/ without it. it will be a bad day when this place is a lovey-dovey cosmic freakfest. dat Cosmic Balance. and i mean if people cannot call you a raging pseud faggot dipshit then what the fuck is the point. well-intentioned censoriousness & hair-triggers & CTRL are exactly why i am here and sounding the way that i do

this place is neither my blog nor my soapbox. it's just where i go to vent shit & echolocate. and this has been quite a wonderful and illuminating experience. i'm now mostly Ventilated.
>but strange things grow in the depths

>I always appreciate them, fag.
mutual. thx for the kind thought. good luck out there then.

>>9856555
lmao

>>9857207
You'll find out

>>9856770
>Never look into it again

You should.

t. another anon who discovered MUH on his own.

Yeah I think I'm becoming a schizo too, my depression doesn't help.
I'm trying ro relax, to focus on my psychophysical well being, to not overthink on everything and, most of all, I'm trying to distract myself.

I will probably still have nihilistic beliefs no matter what, but I know that so much anxiety is just not good for my mental health.

>>9856822

>contemplate the Lotus Sutra.

What is this?

Once you find the void, fill it with anime.

>>9857315
>takes pride in realizing the most obvious thing ever
kys

>>9857590
on a scale from 1 to 10 how sad is your life?

>>9856424
Stop taking everything so seriously. Life is nonserious, a playfulness. It doesn't matter if you don't have a solid definition for "life", "meaning", etc. Regardless of what you learn your ability to perceive the truth is fundamentally limited by your perceptions as a fallible human. Philosophy is all well and good but most of it is completely impractical in daily life

>>9857732
10

>>9857755
People need to stop taking writers so seriously too. Many can write a beautiful turn of phrase but aren't exactly great thinkers.

>>9857360
superstitious garbage for """"""spiritual"""""" people

>>9857880
damn right xD
*tips and wishes the lady a good night!*

Read zhuangzi and become enlightened

baump