ITT: Books that people read just to feel smart

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

I eas listening to an audiobook course about greek myths one time and not long after the intro the professor actually went out of her way to calk campbell out and sperg a bit about how its not real antrhopology and is mostly speculative fiction. Apparently he has a lot of people in that field who have a bone to pick with him.

I personally like his stuff but i am no scholar of religious history. Its just interesting in a literary way, same as jung's .

Yeah, I bought it so that I could learn story structure and found myself disappointed. Still useful in a comparative religion kind of way, but how to tell a story, I did not learn from it.

 

[Dolphin Lundgren]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It's a great novel but god, does it attract a lot of pretentious people.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
The Moral Landscape

TBF, I'm not mad at Joseph Campbell's work. I just didn't find it all that useful to me and happens to fit the criteria of a pretentions book. The Moral Landscape, on the other hand, actively irritates me when I try to reread it. My most hated passage is on page 135-6:


Why does this passage irritate me in particular? Because it's the philosophical basis of removing constitutional rights for Da Science. We see this kind of philosophy in action from the COVID response. Because of selective basic
biology knowledge, various state governments such as California and New York have severely curtailed public gathering of any kind if not banned outright. Such a drastic change on our society has decimated the amusement park economy (which Anaheim is entirely reliant upon), suspended public education with an even less effective form of it,* fucked over malls, restaurants, and theater chains, and compels everyone to wear a mask simply to commit acts of commerce. Even Black Friday was kinda mediocre this year.

Why? Because the right to assembly "appears to be a relic of a more superstitious age." Sam Harris, unwittingly or not, did real damage to society with a pretentious book.

*Ever try to keep the attention of children in a classroom? Now, try imagining how to do that when they've got a Minecraft/Fortnite tab open.

Yeah, I bought it so that I could learn story structure and found myself disappointed. Still useful in a comparative religion kind of way, but how to tell a story, I did not learn from it.

tbf Campbell's stuff led to the heroes journey stuff but that book isn't exactly a guide.

There's screenwriter books based on his work iirc.

 

[Kujo Jotaro]

As someone who actually enjoys reading classics and philosophy in a genuine manor it sucks nuts the reputation they have. I learned a long time ago not to bring up enjoying them lest I be labeled a farthuffer. For real though most classics arent that hard to read, and most difficulties in understanding older literature is the frequency with which texts make call backs to even older texts. I feel like 90% of misunderstandings could be solved by reading the odyssey, and the bible (start with the greeks isn't just a meme, found out that the hard way).

 

[Meat Target]

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It's the comic that turned an entire generation of ignored teenagers into angsty anarchy loving retards.

As someone who liked Watchmen, I can tell it's pretentious, and so is Alan Moore. I'm just glad that he was butthurt about everyone liking Rorschach when they weren't supposed to.

 

[JohnDoe]

As someone who liked Watchmen, I can tell it's pretentious, and so is Alan Moore. I'm just glad that he was butthurt about everyone liking Rorschach when they weren't supposed to.

While Moore is pretentious and deserves some ridicule, Watchmen has merit. It does a good job of putting Plato's Ring of Gyges into a modern, accessible form with some nice additional musings related to the central theme. I'm glad he could put aside his political insanity long enough to craft good character s like Rorschach, even if now he is blinded to the qualities of his own creation.

Back on topic and on the same general subject matter, I'd nominate Sandman. So many people want to act as though Gaimans rambling narrative is some kind of masterpiece, but they are only deluding themselves. Usually they want to present their very expensive deluxe editions, as though weighty paper, glossy printing, and leatherette covers will elevate the content within.

 

[gangweedfan]

As someone who liked Watchmen, I can tell it's pretentious, and so is Alan Moore. I'm just glad that he was butthurt about everyone liking Rorschach when they weren't supposed to.

Wrong... V for vendetta is very good.. It is about a gentelman incel destroying the chads who held him back for so long.... now yuo see...

 

[Calandrino]

I read almost exclusively to feel smart or look smart, but it often backfires because there are too many big words and commas.

I can't think of anything to beat OP's suggestion of White Fragility though. I'm going to judge a book by its cover and guess that it's written at no higher than a sixth-grade level.

I have a copy of White Rage, and it's just unreadable. I couldn't survive more than a few pages... it's like a padded-out high school essay that any thinking person could poke holes in every other sentence. I was a little shocked to discover that it's Amazoncore and apparently taken fairly seriously.

 

[Darksy DePhil]

What's invented the whole "books are for intellectuals and other media is for plebs" stigma anyways? Is it something new? I don't recall examples of people jerking themselves over reading above watching TV back in the 90's.

 

[Meat Target]

What's invented the whole "books are for intellectuals and other media is for plebs" stigma anyways? Is it something new? I don't recall examples of people jerking themselves over reading above watching TV back in the 90's.

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1. Books actually take an investment of time, thought, and imagination to enjoy, as opposed to TV, movies, and vidya simply being beamed into your eyeballs.

2. Books are the only medium that no longer have to go through corporatist gatekeepers.

 

[Kosher Dill]

I don't recall examples of people jerking themselves over reading above watching TV back in the 90's.

How about "Fahrenheit 451"? The whole thing was a boomer rant about how TV was displacing books and making idiots of the population.
Much like "The Jungle", it struck an entirely different chord with the audience.

Books are the only medium that no longer have to go through corporatist gatekeepers.

Check out the "YABookgate" thread...

 

[Judge Dredd]

What's invented the whole "books are for intellectuals and other media is for plebs" stigma anyways? Is it something new? I don't recall examples of people jerking themselves over reading above watching TV back in the 90's.

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What @Meat Target said for point 1., but I'm also going to add popularity as well.

The idea is that the mainstream are just too stupid to understand X, so they swarm to lowest common denominator mass market slop Y. This gives X (readers in this case) a sense of smug superiority.

There was a film I saw years ago. I forget the title (if you know it please let me know), but it was about a man who noticed something wrong with the world. He kept seeing flashes of the world as a burned out husk. He's eventually brought into a secret society who revealed that the world most people know was a simulation. A fake. Only the elite few could see the true world, running the sim for the benefit of the plebs. The elites get pissed when the man reveals their secret society is fake too. When he proves it by effortlessly smashing furniture, they dismiss it as super strength brought on by his insanity.

For those curious, the film ends with him finding out the world is indeed simulated. The secret society part was included for those who want a sense of superiority. When he shuts down the simulation, reducing the world to cardboard with bar codes all over it, no one notices or cares, and goes about their day as if the simulation was still running.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

What @Meat Target said for point 1., but I'm also going to add popularity as well.

The idea is that the mainstream are just too stupid to understand X, so they swarm to lowest common denominator mass market slop Y. This gives X (readers in this case) a sense of smug superiority.

There was a film I saw years ago. I forget the title (if you know it please let me know), but it was about a man who noticed something wrong with the world. He kept seeing flashes of the world as a burned out husk. He's eventually brought into a secret society who revealed that the world most people know was a simulation. A fake. Only the elite few could see the true world, running the sim for the benefit of the plebs. The elites get pissed when the man reveals their secret society is fake too. When he proves it by effortlessly smashing furniture, they dismiss it as super strength brought on by his insanity.

For those curious, the film ends with him finding out the world is indeed simulated. The secret society part was included for those who want a sense of superiority. When he shuts down the simulation, reducing the world to cardboard with bar codes all over it, no one notices or cares, and goes about their day as if the simulation was still running.

the matrix?

 

[Non-Threatening Niall]

Anything written by Mencius Moldbug, Slavoj Zizek, Sartre, Foucault, or Mao Zedong

Honestly, how can someone hold any delusion of smartness self-worth after reading anything penned by someone who goes by Moldbug?

Anyways, I had to read Foucault profusely for uni and, same as someone who takes psych meds by prescription vs. someone who does it for fun, I can't understand for the life of me why someone would subject themselves to that voluntarily. Other than dangerhairs pretending to have read Discipline and Punish because edgy, that is.

 

[Andrew Neiman]

I eas listening to an audiobook course about greek myths one time and not long after the intro the professor actually went out of her way to calk campbell out and sperg a bit about how its not real antrhopology and is mostly speculative fiction. Apparently he has a lot of people in that field who have a bone to pick with him.

I personally like his stuff but i am no scholar of religious history. Its just interesting in a literary way, same as jung's .

What audiobook course?

 

[Niggernerd]

Any book where the author adds a philosophical quote.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

What audiobook course?

It was one from the great courses by The teaching company, i think it was just called intro to greek mythology

 

[Andrew Neiman]

It was one from the great courses by The teaching company, i think it was just called intro to greek mythology

I have that on my wish list. Lockdown has turned me into a Great Courses addict.

 

[Governor Jeb Bush]

1984 is good but it makes me wanna hit myself with a hammer when somebody says "OH it's like 1984" in relation to something IRL. Unless the book flew over their head or they have no brain, the novel makes it pretty clear that the language has been whittled down so much that nobody knows fuck all, they don't know better.... or do they?
It's almost implied everyone knows and is in fear of repercussions... but it is also implied that the articulation no longer exists ....

The book is designed to be interpreted and you have those fucks that think it's completely Black and White. In-fact it seems to be younger (gen Z) that think everything is super clear cut and never grey, makes me rage big time.

 

[LargeChoonger]

Definitely 1984. You could argue that the grammar is structured in a disjointed, uncomfortable way to fit the brutalist theme, but I just don't buy it. It was a mediocre book to me and I never plan on reading it again