/lit/ - Literature

C+P

>>17489245
This feels like it was made by an English person.

The Overcoat

>>17489724
I have literally never seen a box of twinkies in England.

>Social anxiety
This meme cured it for me

Maybe 2021 will finally be the year of the gf

>>17489245
No one would ever think I’m cute. Just stop. I used to be average when I was young. Now I’m just some overweight balding slob with a lower middle class job and nothing going for him.

>>17489795
I'm just about to accept that I will never have a relationship

>>17489808
he cute

Beware of Pity

>tranny meme

>>17489808
This.

>>17489245
just stop caring about the opinions of others lol, its not that hard

>>17489808
Get yourself together you fucking loser.

>>17489742
You can get them from the international shelf in Tesco but they’re like a 500% markup

>>17489245
Shame is the fear of disrepute
It also happens to be the biggest fear of oyr current society, always hyper-conscious of being disreputed, making a billion micro-concessions everyday due to the fear of disrepute. Do this everyday and its a sure thing depression will creep in, its just a matter of time

OP, just stop being a bitch, there is no other advice than this. Find something that gives you confidence and stick with it

>>17489245
Jane Austen
>I never wish to offend, but I am so foolishly shy, that I often seem negligent, when I am only kept back by my natural awkwardness. [...] Shyness is only the effect of a sense of inferiority in some way or other. If I could persuade myself that my manners were perfectly easy and graceful, I should not be shy.

If you’re gonna obsess over low-T shit then you need to consider yourself part of the female audience

>>17490382
Does that mean I can finally pass?

>>17490401
no, you have rather broad shoulders and a five o’clock shadow

>>17490412
>no, you have rather broad shoulders
Thanks for the mire brah.

>>17489808

What people see in you is what you see in yourself. Girls can sniff out low self esteem like a dog can sniff out fear. If you have low confidence, this is painted on your face for all you see. It shows in your posture, how you dress, your tone of voice, etc.

Do you think chads are chad because they are better than you? They have supreme unwavering confidence in themselves, and it radiates outward and touches everyone. So if you ever see a girl with a guy and you wonder "How can that girl possibly be attracted to that guy?" It's because he's comfortable with himself, and girls are into guys who believe in themselves.

Even if you have to trick yourself into being confident, it eventually turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy, because people become intrigued and want to know why you are so confident and thus more people want to get to know you, so the false confidence eventually turns into real confidence.

tl;dr: I'm a chad. Listen to me.

>>17490439
no problem bro

>>17489808
Start with calisthenics

>>17490444
This sounds good on paper but I am just not confident, I hate myself and have low self esteem
Just be confident and be yourself bro doesn't cut it here

>>17490480
Why not try it for an experiment for a few weeks? See what happens.
If you're already at the bottom you have nothing to lose from trying.

>>17489795
>>17489849

>>17490494
To you that sort of thing might come naturally and be very easy, but it's not for me
I can't just "be confident" for a couple weeks. I've been trying not to hate myself for years, but frankly I'm afraid of other people and fantasize about being beaten to death

Honestly I can't clearly picture what fake confidence would look like either, just someone who's at peace with themselves and likes who they are? How do you just pretend to be like that? It's internal

>>17490574
If "fake confidence" is too much of a hurdle, then just stop giving a fuck. Not giving a fuck leads naturally into genuine confidence. And if you say you don't give a fuck already, you're lying, because if you did, you wouldn't hate yourself. Not giving a fuck is like a complete zen state, like what happens to Peter after he gets hypnotized in Office Space. You just start getting this weird vibe where you start trying trusting your intuition and not taking things too seriously, but for some reason everything still turns out alright.

>>17490646
Of course I care, too much even.
What I'm getting on the whole (from all the posts) is that I should start day drinking. Might give it a go

>>17490646

>>17490665
Don't start fucking day drinking lad, just take things one day at a time with your newfound pepe

>>17490671
Notice how he too is drinking

>>17490665
I'm literally giving you billion dollar advice. I'm holding out the keys to paradise to you and giving you the secrets of life and you still want to wallow in misery. Baffling.

Whatever, I guess some people truly can't be helped.

>>17490665
Anon I don't think that's the point he was trying to make.
Drinking wont improve your life, especially when you need to drink to have confidence.

>>17490684
You have seen him drinking

I see him making a toast. Get the difference?

>>17490678
This Pepe is correct. The only way to beat the game is to not play it. This is the ultimate redpill and the key to happiness, but people don't get it for some reason.

>>17489748
Based

>>17490705
utterly based brother, forget 'going' to make it, we have made it. Everything else is cream

>>17490665
>Of course I care, too much even
Pussy

>>17490685
I'm glad this type of thinking worked for you and you are happy. It's not like I've been laying in bed all day feeling bad, I do try.
But there is obviously something wrong with me or I wouldn't feel like this in the first place

>>17490689
I am doing things that will affect me negatively in the long term to make the present bearable because I place a low value on my life

>>17490698
Those go hand in hand, he's not gonna spill it on the ground is he

>>17490705
>believes in himself
>content with himself
>accepts himself
I don't understand why you believe you can just do that so easily

>>17490728
Yes

>>17490728
Based
It is better to not care then to care.

>>17490736
better than
I know you don't care about spelling

>>17490734
>Those go hand in hand, he's not gonna spill it on the ground is he

come on, try a little. The nature of the toast is not in the drinking, but in the celebration. The alcohol is coincidental. It won't solve your real life problems at all, changing your mindset will.

>>17490762
I'm gonna go to the store and buy some gin to celebrate. Celebrating does change my mindset

>>17490757
Does this simple error matter in this instance. I believe my point was clear to the reader even with the spelling error.

>>17490808
I still think the rules are important. We can't just descent into anarchy just because you are a nihilist

>>17490734
>I don't understand why you believe you can just do that so easily
It’s very easy to do, but the end result isn’t what most young people picture in their minds as an endgame so they can’t see how it actually makes them happy.
There’s no glamour in living a quiet, unassuming and content lifestyle.
Telling someone who’s whole goal is to elbow his way into a social circle and find a gf to quit caring is like telling someone who’s obsessed with becoming Valedictorian to lay off the adderall and quit stressing over grades. Yeah, that person will be much happier on the whole; but they won’t be Valedictorian.
Or, it’s like telling someone that marrying a fatty will eliminate 90% of the problems most adult men have in marriage. It’s undoubtedly true but most people don’t think the price is worth it.

Unless of course you think “not caring” means acting with an affected air of bravado and basically modeling yourself of a television character.

>>17490776
If you can't celebrate without getting drunk you will NEVER EVER make it.

>inb4 what about normies! That's how they do it!
FUCK NORMIES. Aiming to be as your average person is fucking useless and renders you as hopeless as the unwashed masses. You need to aim higher

>>17489849
the sooner you accept it, the better off the rest of us will be :^) stay in your containment zone virgin

>>17490832
Unless you are a day trader

>>17490827
Are you telling me all I have to do is curb my desire for social belonging, the most basic human need? Gee

>>17490832
I'm not normal and don't think I can be, but being drunk is when I feel best

>>17490820
I see your point, thank you for pointing out my error. Next time I will be more careful when writing a reply.

>>17490734
>But there is obviously something wrong with me or I wouldn't feel like this in the first place

I know whats wrong with you, you care to much about others opinions of you, you don't have confidence in yourself, because you don't accept your weaknesses

You have to find your own way towards a solution, but you can never ever bitch again about how you weren't diagnosed. Your problem is: "You care too much about the opinions of others, your self-esteem is predicated on the value other people give you"

>>17490685
As a recovered depressive with crippling low self esteem, your advice is dogshit and has literally never helped anyone remotely similar to the man you're replying to. There is no good advice for this young man. He is going through the gauntlet, unwillingly, and he cannot know how long it will last. He will either make it through, probably without understanding how (or immediately realizing it is over), or he will falter and kill himself. About half of young men go through this gauntlet now. Most make it through, disfigured but alive and approximating happiness. Many don't. None can inform or help their peers- the closest we've gotten is telling each other to lift weights and get sun. All other advice is garbage. I don't know why I'm better now, I really have no right to be, but I am.

>>17490853
>Are you telling me all I have to do is curb my desire for social belonging, the most basic human need? Gee

Oh look its another idiot that can only think in dualities

>>17490875
Finally, an honest man

>>17490875
My advice is 100% correct.

>>17490869
>you care to much about others opinions of you
I doubt it, “i care too much about people to function normally” is a cope like “i’m too smart to do well in school”.
The overwhelming odds are he just acts weird

>>17490869
Stop replying to this guy. He's clearly an attention whore faggot. We tried giving him genuine help but it's clear that he has no interest in improving himself.

I've met a million people like him. Instead of bettering themselves, they get a weird sadistic joy in bringing other people down to their level and making them just as miserable. When you meet someone like this, you cut them off immediately because they are poison and to waste even one minute on them is a waste of time.

>>17490444
>What people see in you is what you see in yourself.
Well, I see a mildly unattractive person with pathetic delusions of being some sort of tortured artist writer or something. It’s what I see. I’m not going to delude myself. I’m not even an incel. I’ve had girlfriends and I’m not a virgin. I’m just saying how I see myself, an obviously how others see me truthfully.

>>17490463
I’m a former athlete. I know what my problem is weight-wise. I simply let myself slip into shitty ways of living. My job is an existential hell and when COVID happened, I slipped from just sort of overweight to really overweight and working out like I used to just isn’t even enjoyable or neutral anymore.

>>17490853
>being drunk is when I feel best
that's fucking dire, mate. Listen to yourself. I don't care if this is harsh but someone needs to tell you to get a fucking grip of yourself before you drink yourself to death before age 40 because you can't be arsed actually trying to seize life

>>17490869
I'm not sure this is entirely true. But isn't estimating your self worth based on other people just how humans function?

>>17490898
Of course I act weird, I can't remember the last time I was part of a social group

>>17490912
Great stuff

>>17490444
This guy is actually right.

Back in high school, I didn't have a lot of friends, pretty much none if we're being honest. I'd only had one girlfriend over the course of the entirety of high school, and she had some serious issues. I wasn't hideous, I was decently attractive, a little on the skinny side though. I was overly self-conscious about my thinness though even though it wasn't something I really had control over. I was a sloucher, I had long messy hair. I realize now that nobody wanted to be around me because I was a moper.

Well over the summer between senior year and freshman year of college I underwent a lot of changes mentally. I stopped taking my meds. I started doing more physically and mentally rewarding activites. Stopped playing videogames, stopped browsing social media. Started doing bushcraft, it was something I'd always wanted to do. I went on a solo roadtrip and hiked the high mountains of the Northeast. The reading, the exercise, the DIY all made me start feeling happier and my confidence in myself grew.

When I started college I went in with a new haircut, standing up straight, ready to go out and talk to people like a real human being, and what do you know? Things turned out pretty good in the end. I made lots of great friends that year who I still hang around today. Just in the first semester I met a dozen women.

I'm not perfect by any means. I'm still on the lean side. Still working hard to gain what little weight I can. I still have trouble with procrastination. I still have trouble with fulfilling romantic relationships, but who doesn't? i still browse this board for some reason. At any rate, I'm miles happier than I was when I was younger. You just have to keep your chin up, it took me a long time to learn that nobody likes a poopypants.

>>17490895
I don't even have the words to articulate just how dogshit your advice is. If it was any worse it would at least be funny and fulfill some purpose in a roundabout way. But it's in the sweet spot of just being absolutely, completely, unhelpful, tantalizing unhelpfulness, unhelpfulmaxxed, fucking dogshit.

>>17490929
>I didn't have a lot of friends
>*only* one gf

>>17490912
I know brother, but it always pains me to know they're at arms length of genuine happiness but we just cant get the message across

>>17490939
Have you ever been genuinely unhappy? Your advice is "just flip the switch"
It doesn't work like that

>>17490928
>But isn't estimating your self worth based on other people just how humans function?

No no no no no no no no for fucks sake no

>>17490875
>He is going through the gauntlet
more on this please

Why do you even want a 3DPD girl?

>>17490948
not the guy you're replying to but

why not?

>>17490951
It literally is. Human beings spend their entire lives tracking their relative status. It's a zero sum game but it's relative to the situation you find yourself in. But huge amounts of our energy and cognitive function goes towards the tracking and maximizing of status.

>>17490853
>social belonging, the most basic human need
Dude, this isn't true. You need to leave high school behind. Your situation is an opportunity to develop in other ways. Philosophy could help you get out of the tunnel vision you're stuck in. To be clear, most people never leave high school behind, life never stops being about social one-upsmanship for them. Do you believe that is what life is about?

For depression, seeing a psychiatrist and experimenting can help. Emotions really are chemicals, people who flail against that just want to believe the delusion we call ego is the most important thing.

>>17490935
Sorry you are just objectively wrong. Happiness is so easy to achieve. It's not some great mystery. There's at least 2 or 3 people in this thread telling you how to do it, and you think that depression is this thing that magically can't be cured because you were brainwashed into thinking it's a disease and it can't be cured by finding things that truly make you happy and giving yourself a purpose in life. But keep taking that lithium bro! It's really helping.

>>17490948
>Have you ever been genuinely unhappy?
Yes. Because I cared about the opinions of others, its a cancer that restrained me every day. And after I stopped caring (its a process, not an instance) I became a genuinely a better person towards others

Also im not giving him advice, I was just diagnosing him, he can take it any way he wants

>>17490929
good one dude

>>17490912
unfortunately this is largely right. Any excuse to not have to improve your life or mindset or circumstances, right? Disgusting in the truest sense of the word

>>17490972
Not who you're replying to, but you're just rolling over and letting your animal part rule you. Most people do that, but they're all making a mistake.

>>17490972
>why yes I only think in dualities because im a retard how could you tell?

Every person that "doesn't care" still tries to strive in society, stop being so black and white. You can be vain and not care at the same time

>>17490912
I'm that guy and I agree actually, I often think that I'm just a horrible, bad person and deserve to be alone
But I don't think it's fair to claim that I don't do anything to try and improve, I do

>>17490999
This. Imagine if the human mind was always constrained to unilateral tought processes lmao

>>17490972
Social status isn't entirely zero sum, there are zero sum tradeoffs, and in hierarchical organizations it trends more towards zero-sum, but especially in less formal associations it's not quite like that, because there aren't like a limited number of pre-approved slots for individuals to fit into.

>>17490916
>working out like I used to
I wouldn't say working out is the priority here, seeing as depression and anxiety is causing distress, but doing a minimum workout each day is an easy goal to get us feeling like we're doing something. I.e. 10 sit ups a day, tha'ts good, or whatever your favorite muscle group is, mine is abdominals.

>>17491017
doesn't sound like it to me. Sounds like every piece of advice we've given you, you've reached for some reason why 'it's not possible - i-it doesnt work that way'

>>17490972
Yeah but your idea of “status” is probably all fucked up. George Bailey had real status. If your idea of being a high-status male is being quick with a joke and having lots of casual sex you’re probably just setting yourself up for failure.

>>17489737
that has 0 women in it tho

>>17491017
You don't need to improve, you just need to see through your own mind-noise, for the sake of your own salvation, not for the approval of others.

>>17491037
Maybe your advice just doesn't apply to this, I don't want to feel this way and if I could wave the magic wand to stop feeling lonely then I would
When I say I try to improve I mean more real world, tangible things like going outside for walks and things of that nature

>>17491045
I didn't like that movie

>>17491063
Should I start meditating?

>>17491068
>Should I start meditating?
Yeah definitely try and work in some more alone time to solve your social isolation

>>17490955
It's The Gauntlet. Trying too hard to describe runs the risk of being too specific, saying something another can't relate to, and having it dismissed out of hand. But if you're in The Gauntlet, or have been, you can see others when they're in it. It's palpable. You can also tell when someone hasn't been through it. This guy >>17490974 has never been through The Gauntlet- he has no idea, he's essentially a different breed. Might as well be some congolese pygmy bushman in 2020 trying to communicate to a 9th C Tang Dynasty nobleman.
The Gauntlet is something only young men go through. It's a modern phenomena- nothing like this has existed before. The dread. The superfluity. The loneliness- crushing loneliness. People tell you life will be hard, and you can begin to prepare yourself for that, but no one warns you about the loneliness. The rejection, inherent rejection, dating apps. Directionless. Being told to choose a life path at 17. The drugs. The pornography. The ugliness, the awkwardness. The low self esteem, easily justified. Grinding sadness. Purposelessness. Inadequacy, repeated failure. Being so young, and yet feeling the horrible REGRET. Totalizing regret. Every day. Estimated ages, 15-25. That's The Gauntlet.

>>17491068
> should I start meditating
You don't need activities, but sure, why not. All in the game. The Mind Illuminated, or Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, can help you get started.

Reading the Ashtavakra Gita can also help, if you're not super attached to physicalism. Maybe even if you are, come to think of it.

Be advised none of this will help you with fulfilling external goals (such as social success), though that may happen anyway, life is long. It can, however, give you things you would not ever have found otherwise.

>>17491068
Alright I have to stop replying now because this is a waste of time and energy but I'll end by saying although getting some fresh air and shit is always beneficial your problem is of your mindset which is yours to change whenever you can be arsed. You piss me off so much because a lot of your pathetic replies are dead ringers for how I was maybe 2 years ago or so. A massive part of how I changed was reframing the way I saw things and stopped playing by the rules of the social game which clearly wasn't fair or worth playing in the end, which then in turn made me far more interesting and "popular" if you like. But even if I didn't I wouldn't have minded, because I stopped caring of course.

Good luck dude. The anons replying to you DO apply to you. Up to you now

>>17491111
All of this is bypassed if you just not care though.

Loneliness is not the problem. It's lack of companionship. Big difference. Surrounding yourself with 100 NPCs who claim to be your "friend" will not fill that void in your soul. That won't cure the problem.
What you really want is 1 friend. And it is far far better to have 0 friends and be "lonely" than have 100 shitty fake ones.

Any good books for overcoming binge eating?

>>17491133
Not him again, but to reach that state is to have effectively succeeded. I don't know if you'd get there if you didn't care in the first place

>>17491111
Very well said, anon. Also, nice quads!

>>17491101
haha

>>17491117
Thanks for the recommendations

>>17491131
I'll do my best

>>17491111
relatable

>>17491133
>What you really want is 1 friend.
I do

>>17491149
Just stop eating lmao

>>17491133
Advice like this, online and offline, is also a part of The Gauntlet. It is a pillar of demoralization and alienation, as normals browbeat you into feeling ashamed for being depressed, mock you for being unable to do what they describe as effortlessly simple, and ultimately convince you that you're fundamentally broken for not being able to simply "flip a switch" like they can. Again- these are two different types of human being. Part of emerging from the gauntlet is ignoring people like this without falling to total hopelessness. Just because their condescending advice is awful, it doesn't mean all is lost. You have to understand they're fundamentally wrong, but you still might make it out. The problem is that the idea of making it out alive is so unbelievable anyone in the gauntlet they will usually dismiss anything else a person who says that has to say.

>>17491111
Honestly more helpful than anything else I've read here, it is what it feels like and it's nice to know that someone else felt it and doesn't anymore
Thanks Anon

>>17491131
Basado. Hopefully some people might learn this

>>17491111
Excellent post btw, screencapped
you should write more on this anon. Would help a lot of young guys out

nice book suggestions everyone

>>17491131
>playing by the rules of the social game which clearly wasn't fair or worth playing in the end
what are these rules and games?

>>17491174
Any recommended reading? I like your posts

>>17491111
Kek but cringe

>>17491231
You must be new if you think OP made this thread with the genuine intention of receiving book recommendations.

>>17491131
your being super vague. what do you think you have figured out and at what age? You seem kind of overconfident, like hubristic even

>>17491232
Your self esteem is predicated on the approval of others. Everyone hold the key to others self-esteem, therefore we all become value consuming zombies

Just BEE yourself faggot

>>17491251
shut the fuck up faggot

>>17491174
Not who you're replying to, but I'm not a normal, I'm a 32 year old virgin, and that hurts. Nevertheless, I consider myself out of the Gauntlet (which is totally a real thing and a great name you gave it). I'm just not playing that game anymore.

Also, in my experience, normals are pretty broken when you get to know them. Pressure to perform and live up to an image is doing a number on everyone.

>>17491131
I rarely find someone who thinks exactly like me much less would I expect it in this incel board. Good shit anon, glad you figured it out and had the balls to make the transition. Life is much lighter and fun like this isn't it?

>>17491111
I think you mean “Melodrama”

>>17491111
>Thou Shalt
>Thou Shalt
>Thou Shalt

Jesus my guy, do you have any free will of your own? Can you have your opinion on something without feeling shame? Or will you always be at the mercy of societal standards?

>>17491238
I have nothing, anon. I've always read for pleasure, and reading things that reminded me of myself was something I found particularly painful. If reading about people in The Gauntlet gives you a sense of solidarity, then Catcher in the Rye is the obvious recommendation. Holden is going through The Gauntlet- just an easier version of it, without the cyberpunk hellscape around him. Hunger by Knut Hamsun is also about a young man in a strange gauntlet that's mostly of his own making. I haven't read it but I believe the Book of Disquiet is probably (at least thematically) about The Gauntlet.
At the end of the day I've never sought out or particularly enjoyed literature on this topic, I got enough of it in my daily life.
I did make this chart a while ago, with the intentions of compiling adventurous stories for young men who don't read very much, maybe inspire them a little to look beyond their schoolwork and computer screen and self loathing and remember the great lives people used to live. I don't know if it's relevant to this conversation in any meaningful way, but I know this was some literature I enjoyed between 16-22, during the most arduous parts of my Gauntlet. It was something that worked occasionally for me- I can't speak for anyone else. Everyone finds their own coping mechanisms.

>>17491350
Forgot pic.

>>17491354
>Storm of Steel
Lol, fucking Lit memes never end

>>17491261
was trying to sum up the posts not just myself but several anons in this thread had already made. I myself am 21 currently. My best attempt at summarising my mindset is that you have a choice in how you percieve yourself and make your own value judgments on what is worth living for as opposed to listening solely to others (i.e. mainstream society, popular culture, your parents and immediate social circles/peer groups etc.). You are not, by any means, forced to strive for convention in order to achieve contentness (and as another anon pointed out many well-adjusted, normal people with families and friends and normal jobs are in fact shells of human beings for whom the highlight of lived experience is consooming the Big Tasty, back for a limited time only at McDonalds!!!!!!!). I don't think I have over-confidence in anything, I think I have found a path through a decadent and corrupt, valueless quagmire of a society which people like you (quite possibly, perhaps I shouldn't assume but certainly anons in this thread) can't seem to grasp any other option than 'lie down and give up I guess'. To be told therefore that I am overconfident because I refuse to listen to the bullshit fed to young men re: dating apps, toxic masculinity, vapid 'friends' who have little to no interest in your wellbeing, and all that comes with it, the loneliness, watching pornography, destroying your mind and your faculties to enjoy life. I reject these things and don't care if that excludes me from being 'typical' or gets in the way of living life on my own terms.

>>17491286
exactly, 4chan can hold some gems but so many crabs here who wouldn't have it any other way than to curl up and die, and force you down with them

>>17491111
Good shit

>>17489245
Conference of the Birds by Farid-ud-din Attar
Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Gospel of Thomas

>>17491111
>>17491174
>>17491350
Great posts anon

>>17491390
This is basically it. You're either a consoooomer of the values other people give you or you decide for yourself. When someone calls me arrogant or some other insult I'm completely fine, I accept myself for my weaknesses, you're just telling me shit I know lmao
I love when I tell someone something they don't like and they spend an entire day resentful and seething. Is it this easy to drag you down? Come on

>>17491111
>The Gauntlet
Jfc this has to be intentionally cringe. No wonder some of you are so lonely

>>17491111
Quads of doom

>>17489592
What?

>>17490875
>None can inform or help their peers- the closest we've gotten is telling each other to lift weights and get sun.
Painfully true

>>17491468
Shut the fuck up woman

>>17492452
This

>>17492452
>>17492478
nice samefagging

>>17492666
Shut the fuck up, Lilith.

>>17491951
Crime and Punishment

>>17491468
kys

>>17489245
the pigeon - patrick süskind

>>17492722
nice inspect element faggot

>>17493161
>there's no possible way someone could've agreed
Try harder