Hey /fit/, what books should I read to get the mental gains?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUGvhySRnlc
Letters from a Stoic, Seneca.
Orwell my nigga
Sex and Character by Otto Weiniger
republic
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It will change your life, how you interact with people, what you expect out of others, and it may possible uncuck you
OP here, thanks.
>>37663579
Paul Ryan detected
Mental meaning skills? Pick up some textbooks my dude
Mental meaning emotional stability and wellness?
meditations by marcus aurelius
inner space by rabbi aryeh kaplan
prometheus rising by robert anton wilson
the end of history and the last man by francis fukuyama
and before I forget, dystopian novels are a good intro
good luck breh, the path of natty mental gains is a difficult one, but the most rewarding by far
>>37663509
Vander's human physiology if you want something fitness related. I find it fascinating because it's the story of how your body works... we've all got one and most of us know so little about it.
If looking for something less dry, I'd go with Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Classic dystopian futuristic novel, and an Excellent read (with a capital E).
>>37663602
Try harder marxist
>>37663579
>atlas shrugged
Literally the most boring book I've ever read. Do you even read the damn thing nigger? It's a fag-fest ffs.
>>37663631
seconded brave new world. it's kind of eerie how if you squint hard enough you can see what happens in the book almost play out in real life. so i think books like that sharpen your bs detector
>>37663650
proof you didn't read it mongoloid. go back to your got
>>37663662
I snored reading through the first 3 pages. When is the book going to pick it's snore-pace faggotry?
Please more. /lit/ has a million recommendations and i'm looking for more redpill books.
You guys read some crappy books.
OP, it depends on what you're trying to do. Honestly one of the best things a westerner can read is "The Discourse on Method" by Descartes. It's very short, very easy to read, and will give you the most bang for you buck. Moreover, it's free.
There's a reason almost every philosophy curriculum in the United States starts with that book. Thank me later.
>>37663765
Not trolling here but I have a legit question: Why does philosophy matter?
Fields like math, science...hell, even art all contribute something to the world. Philosophy seems like mental mastrubation to me...am I wrong?
Hegel - Phenomenology of Spirit
What are some goat non-fics?
>>37663509
The Art of War
My Twisted World by Elliot Rodgers
It really makes you think
>>37663814
I'm not the guy you are replying to, but philosophy is what all fields, sciences, arts and everything break down into when we question why these things are important. It has been called the science of sciences and since before Socratic times has been the name for the science of questioning reality; the way humans government eachother; the way we squander our lives away shit-posting on 4chin and don't face the absurd nature of beings having a conscience springing from the big bang.
If you don't believe in the big bang and prefer a creationist hypothesis, then where did he creator come from? Does he/she reward us for doing 'good' deeds in life? Is he/she also all-knowing and all powerful? Then if all possible outcomes of any action I perform can be anticipated and I will be judged accordingly, why even exist? Why not cut straight to the reward or punishment?
You said math and other sciences seem significant. Can you explain why?
Is it because they improve our quality of life? If we all die, is there any point in improving a brief state? Why are humans with saving? Because we are morally obliged? What are morals? Social cues that evolved to benefit survival? If that's the case, is there any TRUE objective good or evil?
Questions like time travel and the fundamentals of Metaphysics are as much philosophical as they are mathematical. More than that, philosophy seeks to provide questions that many will never face or are afraid to investigate.
If you are interested in anything whatsoever, I guarantee it will break down into the theoretical and philosophical if you ask, 'why?' to every belief you have about it.
>>37664400
Sorry phone auto corrected some words to be plurals and shit so the grammar isn't perfect but you get the idea.
>>37664415
Can you like shut the fuck up?
>>37663765
Do not read Descartes' philosophy. It sucks and he's a literal amateur. Read his Geometrie instead and learn about how he uses analytic geometry to easily solve problems deemed too difficult for the ancient Greeks.
>mfw people champion Descartes as THE philosophy to read for beginners but forget that every intro to philosophy course rips the Meditations and Discourse into shreds within the first 3 weeks of class
>>37663814
I'm the initial anon you posed this question to.
It's a common question and I don't think you're trolling. The reality is that we live in a society that doesn't value philosophy by and large because most people lack the apparatus to appreciate it in the first place. All the emphasis is currently on the STEM field, which makes sense because the STEM field has given us a lot of useful medicines, tools, weapons, luxuries, and technologies.
However, philosophy will always been queen of all academic fields because any time you think about thinking or posit a claim, it's rooted within philosophy. In fact, the scientific method is a philosophy in and of itself. Moreover, philosophy is the tool that you rely upon in order to give your life meaning or otherwise inform every other avenue of "knowledge" you have in any given field. For example, almost anyone can do algebra, but understanding the origins and purpose of why algebra exists requires education in philosophy. When you discuss algebra, you're plotting points on a Cartesian plane. It's named after Descartes because he had a very specific reason for using it.
That's why I suggested The Discourse on Method. Descartes makes some points about knowledge, disagreement, and method which I think would literally change the whole world if more people understood it.
>>37664837
You have no idea what you're talking about.
The "literal amateur" you're referring to influenced the entire course of Western philosophy for the past few hundred years. Of course you spend time discussing and refuting the meditations in most classes, but that doesn't disprove their value. The reason some of the arguments are bad is because many of ideas are hundreds if not thousands of years old. To think we as a society haven't progressed since then is silly and illustrates that you don't know how to read philosophy beyond a face-value level.
>>37664400
I'm the original anon who suggested Descartes (also dubs checked). What you're saying is correct and I think helps answer the question.
>>37664460
But in the case of most people (like this meathead), they lack the tools to understand it and will throw feces at it.
>>37665863
Again, shut the fuck up nerd.
>>37663509
WAH HAAAAAA
>>37665923
Kek, so much anger. Ever ask yourself why?
>>37664837
>He's a literal amateur
Lol. I bet you think Newton is an amateur in science too.
>>37666165
Descartes literally did philosophy as a bedtime hobby you stupid idiot
>>37665835
Good job putting words in my mouth you dumbass. You literally cannot deny that his arguments were shit and that the only value Descartes' philosophy had was a brand new approach to metaphysics compared to the ancients, which is why philosophy after him were referred to as "modern", and which is the only reason for his popularity.
This means that a beginner would not benefit from starting with Descartes since they do not know the historical context that makes him so influential.
Damn retard, stop trying to seem like you know jack shit.
>>37663899
This is the only answer. It applies to a ton of different life aspects, whether it's social interactions or work or in a crisis.
>>37664837
What are some arguments against stoicism?
go to /biz/ and ask for their book list, acquire currency
>tfw fell for the meditation meme
>I can notice even more details of my nasty ass body now as well as others
>less stressed and care about my problems less
>tfw becoming at peace
help lads without guilt I have nothing to fuel me
Start with the Greeks.
>>37663579
>reading ayn rand
Considering anything that shrew had to say as philosophy is proof you're autistic.
>>37663531
“Can you no longer see a road to freedom?
It’s right in front of you. You need only turn over your wrists”.
My favorite quote from him
>>37663579
How's high school going? Rand is shitty philosophy. Her roark is one of the worst role models ever created. Literally autistic, basically a 1950s era "Driver".
>>37663602
> Meditations
It's okay fampai. Seneca is better in my opinion.
>>37666297
>This means that a beginner would not benefit from starting with Descartes
which is why one of his works is among the most commonly used by philosophy professors in their intro classes...
dostoevsky will set you on the right path. you will find your own way from there
Here is some good philosophy. It will be difficult and take a while to read properly (go slowly, reread things you didn't follow, try to resist the arguments they're making, and write down the major objections you come up with and try to answer them on the author's behalf), but not because they make a bunch of unstated assumptions or presuppose facility with technical vocabulary.
Hume - Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Goodman - "New Riddle of Induction" in Fact, Fiction, and Forecast
Frege - Foundations of Arithmetic
Sidgwick - Methods of Ethics
Parfit - Reasons and Persons
Chalmers - The Conscious Mind
Also, general advice for 'mental gains'. Look for university syllabi and online lectures. Pick a syllabus or two and work through it, doing all the reading, and write some things about it (do assigned writing if there is any). If you can, try to get someone to read it and criticize its content.
> Become Agnostic
> Study Stoicism
> Study a STEM field
This is all you need. Metaphysics is great, but after awhile it becomes pointless. I mean all life is pointless but I prefer to study something with concrete axioms like science. It's whatever you make of it but I prefer science, I definitely wouldn't want to spend 4 years with "enlightened "-philo majors. It's just way too easy to say that nothing matters so I'm not going to do anything.
>>37670555
Fear of death. Is pointless to not to strive and don't you want to be better than all the other guys...? (It immature but works).
>>37671191
>something with concrete axioms like science
wat
If that's what you want, do math/logic. You know, the things that actually use axioms and derive shit from them.
>>37671072
And it gets torn apart by the lecturer, which the beginner reading the works by itself doesn't have, and therefore would not realize how flawed Descartes' arguments are. Are you seriously this fucking stupid?
>>37671191
>something with concrete axioms like science
Not even physics have those. The formalizations/axiomatizations of QFT and GM are still intrinsically in conflict and the categorical/algebraic approach to defining quantum fields cannot reproduce all observable phenomena and interactions. There's a reason why the open YM mass gap problem is still relevant.
t. Mathematical physics grad student
>>37665923
lol peanut brain
>>37665923
Spotted the virgin
>>37672529
>>37671683
>>37666113
Same virgin nerd.
Calculus by Michael Spivak
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths
