- Joined
- Jan 27, 2021
I don't think it's so much "Reality is so shitty" as much as it is "Reality is so unfair" and a refusal to accept that in defiance of real world logic and consequence- "It's unfair I was born male, so I'm going to mutilate my body and mind until I'm a beautiful anime girl". For most people, a part of growing up and maturing is an acceptance that life has consequences, that people outside of The Self are just as important, that sometimes things just suck and there's nothing to be done. In many ways, the purpose of religion is to explain and contextualize that information and remind the individual of their place and purpose in the universe. But by inverting religion into a kind of "Choose your own adventure" with customizable gods and swappable moralities ("I want Norse, but WOKE Norse and hot Loki with Kung Fu grip"), reality itself becomes inverted and the laws of nature warp to the will and needs of the individual.
CS Lewis argued that the human pursuit of magic was the search for a kind of cosmic cheat code, so that instead of going through decades of laborious self betterment, refinement, failure, and pain, the magician could make himself instantly grow and improve with the snap of his fingers. Roger Scruton theorized in his excellent musing on Harry Potter (found here- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b091wf88) the series replaces the humility of prayer and religious ritual with the hubris of a spellcaster who simply bends the universe when it doesn't suit him. The Isekai genre is built on the idea that if only our protagonist lived in a world where their hoards of trival knowledge on nerd culture became useful, they would be just as successful and powerful as the people who shunned them in their old life. Many of the people documented on this thread are seeking for meaning and purpose in what they believe to be religion, but it has to be exclusively on their terms with minimal sacrifice and effort. When confronted by the implacable face of cosmic order, they are insisting that it is the universe who must change and when it doesn't, they have to escape to a place that will let them and/or come up with reasons why society is conspiring to defeat them. To quote the wisest philosopher of our age Phil Burnell "It's bugged! Nothing I could do, dood!".
CS Lewis argued that the human pursuit of magic was the search for a kind of cosmic cheat code, so that instead of going through decades of laborious self betterment, refinement, failure, and pain, the magician could make himself instantly grow and improve with the snap of his fingers. Roger Scruton theorized in his excellent musing on Harry Potter (found here- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b091wf88) the series replaces the humility of prayer and religious ritual with the hubris of a spellcaster who simply bends the universe when it doesn't suit him. The Isekai genre is built on the idea that if only our protagonist lived in a world where their hoards of trival knowledge on nerd culture became useful, they would be just as successful and powerful as the people who shunned them in their old life. Many of the people documented on this thread are seeking for meaning and purpose in what they believe to be religion, but it has to be exclusively on their terms with minimal sacrifice and effort. When confronted by the implacable face of cosmic order, they are insisting that it is the universe who must change and when it doesn't, they have to escape to a place that will let them and/or come up with reasons why society is conspiring to defeat them. To quote the wisest philosopher of our age Phil Burnell "It's bugged! Nothing I could do, dood!".
TL;DR Escapism is cancer and I would not have sex it.
