How do you make yourself read books?
For some reason my mind just wants to be turned off and watch TV or a movie instead, and just sit there and not have to think about anything.
It seems like that is normal for a lot of people, but I want to change it because I really want to read some philosophy books cause I am a faggot with no self control.
However, how do I make it so that I actually WANT to read books? Like I feel like I'll never succeed unless I actually start craving it, cause like I said I have no self control. But for some reason my mind just wants to be turned off, and I don't know why... Why is it normal for humans to want to not have to think? My mind is totally cool with just becoming stagnant... how do I stop it..?
>>8228524
Monitoring for interest. I've become completely stagnant.
Resulting ins a failed interview for a UN job as I didn't even follow the latest news anymore. I haven't done anything in the past year. It's like I didn't exist at all. I didn't read nor did I even play video games. I just surfed the webs and retained no information at all.
>>8228524
By following the deep pit of despair floating in my horizon and tailing it down til I'm in the familiar, comforting aura of banality that spawns any inkling of creativity I posses. Once there, I've no other recourse but to feed the void with copious amounts of prose, like a heroin addict who will only rouse his body for the next bit of smack.
YOU PICK THE BOOK
RIGHT
YOU OPEN THE BOOK
RIGHT
YOU MOVE TO THE FIRST PAGE WITH LETTERS YOU SEE
RIGHT
YOU READ IT
RIGHT
its like teaching retarded kids shake my head ( s M H)
>>8228536
That picture was interesting, I never thought of disciplining yourself slowly like that.
I am basically in the same boat as you. I graduated highschool a year ago, and it has been a year since, and looking back I literally did NOTHING. I went to a couple of music festivals, I quit playing video games, and I didn't read or do anything. I had a shitty retail job for a while, but I lost that a few months ago cause I called out too much lol.
The only thing I did do was workout almost every day, and that kinda kept me afloat and in good shape, I didn't eat though so I am still small just with a little more muscle.
The more I think about it though the more I feel diseased, like it can't be fucking normal to be this way right? I essentially killed myself for a year, it was like I was asleep, I am in essentially the exact same spot as I was last year, and the worst part is that I haven't even signed up for college or anything yet and it's probably too late.
Maybe I can attribute it to my opiate addiction, but I plan on never quitting until I gain the willpower which might not be ever. I literally need to go to prison or something to make myself read and stop drugs.
I have a lot of plans on how I am going to be making money soon, but in my mind all I think about is how good life is going to be, but I never actually do shit. I seriously get myself high off of thinking about my goals, but never do anything to achieve them.
>>8228546
idk how to apply that though man
>>8228547
Valueless post.
>>8228536
>I just surfed the webs and retained no information at all.
And here we have the great malaise afflicting our generation. Without self-discipline the internet is a bottomless pit from which there is no escape. Do we need it? My life, for one, is better in its absence.
>>8228524
Cut all added sugars, fried food, and red meat from your diet. The majority of self-afflictated lack of self-discipline has dietary causations linked to it. Why do I say that? Because, it's how I was.
>>8228563
you should be a scientist or smth
>>8228559
Today was the first day in a while that I spent almost the whole day hanging out with a friend helping him film stuff, and overall spending the day being productive, but the whole time I felt kind of depressed and weird because I felt like my day was ruined because I was thinking of all the shit on reddit and youtube I was missing.
I realize that I was wrong and I actually had a good day doing cool stuff though... but still felt that I had ruined it :\
>>8228563
Is that broscience or what man? I have been trying to bulk lately, and before I bulked I basically just ate chicken and oats, and I feel exactly the same.
>>8228566
>I felt like my day was ruined because I was thinking of all the shit on reddit and youtube I was missing.
>all the shit on reddit and youtube I was missing
>missing
Good lord, man.
>>8228570
Idk maybe it was that, or it could of been that I had been out for so long and was withdrawling because I can't get high when I am out with friends. Maybe I subconsciously felt like I was missing out on that stuff because I just wanted to go home and get high.
Is it possible that I have like an actual mental illness?
One thing I should've added. My brother is 3 years older than me, and he dropped out of high school when he was in 10th grade, and for the past ~4 years he has literally not had a job and not done anything. He sits in his room and watches movies all day, like I'm not as bad as him, but could it be that we have like a genetic problem with out brains to make us not have discipline or something?
Or is it because we've had no authority figures in our lives being raised by a single mother?
>>8228575
Not him, but it's always going to take a few days at least, to break a habit. Suspecting mental illness is an overreaction.
>>8228566
Add vegetables and fruit. It's not broscience, look up the study were they put rats in the water and feed them a good diet verse a bad one. Step one of your mind is feeding it the right thing, then its finding a book that hooks you
>>8228591
>look up the study were they put rats in the water and feed them a good diet verse a bad one
How much more did the good diet rats read?
>>8228594
Well they didn't drown
>mfw people on lit are only passibly intelligent at literature and fucking retarded at everything
>>8228524
It sounds like you don't enjoy reading.
Maybe try some fun books before getting into the thicker literature.
You can actually learn a lot of philosophy from simple fiction OP.
Try reading some entry-level material like Harry Potter so you can have some fun reading.
Then if you really want to try the Non-Fiction section it won't be such a pain.
>>8228597
I'm on solid land so I'm not very worried about drowning.
>>8228600
>Try reading some entry-level material like Harry Potter
Hi Stephen.
>>8228601
A true bard
>>8228524
Get angry. Get fucking pissed off that you have no self control and force yourself to read a certain number of pages in one sitting. You've been conditioned to want the sensual bombardment that tv and movies give you and you need to essentially learn what feeling a book is supposed to feel like so you can start to relax while doing it.
It also helps to read books by people who aren't simply writing essays, and can actually make compelling dialogue. I recommend you grab some of Plato's shorter dialogues and start right away.
>>8228604
???
>>8228524
>be Catholic
>hold an uncommon position
>you lack understand of it
>realise reading will help you embrace it or leave it for good
>read Gene Wolfe
>grow an interest in literature and philosophy
>realise you need to read Plato, Aristotle and Augustine before Aquinas
>realise you need to read critiques of Aquinas
>realise you need to read contemporary philosophy to put Aquinas in proper context
>also study law
>studying it is dreadful, but reading alongside it helps you make sense of it in a practical concept
>>8228566
Hi OP, same as >>8228600
A different diet is not going to make you want to read.
Much like weightlifting, reading is improved by doing the thing.
If you want to be good at lifting heavy things, then lift heavy things.
If you want to be good at reading, then read.
>>8228582
I think it's because you display a near pathological rejection of responsibility and have an external locus of control.
You are 100% physically capable of getting off your ass and picking up a book right now, yet you freely choose to muse about the reasons that you wont on the internet. It's fucking mindnumbing.
Discipline is a game of small steps. Start today by going for a 10 minute walk and reading 10 pages. Repeat and increase quantity until death.
>>8228597
>tfw people interested in science confirm the STEMautist meme by being incapable of processing jokes
>>8228553
Use your lost year to push you forward, I had a similar experience a few years ago and have made sure every year since then has something going for it.
One note on the picture: when you start to live your life always forcing yourself to do what you should whenever you feel you should, you start to notice other people doing the same thing who are working themselves to death. If you're sitting on 4chan you probably aren't someone in that group and you should just push yourself as hard as you can, as much as you can from the outset.
Trying to take breaks before you've established a true routine will lead to breaking whatever you're trying to discipline and you'll have to start over
Idk I read poetry, essays, and philosophy. So I take it slow or short. I read often, but not too much at once. Ya dig?
>>8228524
>Why is it normal for humans to want to not have to think?
You have been outsourcing authority for almost all your life, you are told you are entitled to relax as reward for doing that - essentially rewarding submissiveness and lacking self-command.
Nothing happens when you never relax and set your own goals, You simply get better the things you practice. A good leader (read: hypocrite) will always inspire impulsiveness so their position isn't challenged, they know there can only be certain number of true leaders and it's best if not everyone knows this.
>>8228582
"if one is not born with a good father figure, one must craft his own"
>>8228524
bump
If you're just getting into philosophy, it's good to start by reading in small quantities. I started the path by reading 10-15 pages every morning with my coffee. Sometimes you get hooked on a subject and read more. These days, I'm dick-deep in 2-3 books at any given time.
>>8228524
Change doesn't happen in a day, yet there are so many people that ask "How do I read?" expecting that someone is going to give them the ultimate quick start guide to reading today seriously guy.
You want to know how to read? You fucking read. Sit your ass down, turn off the tv, and open a book. You won't crave it unless you do it, so why do you think you have to crave it to start?
You get out what you put in, so start putting it in you pansy. It is normal for animals to not think above base needs, humans are rational and realize that if they abandon short-term for long-term pleasures they can accomplish great things. Are you an animal or a man?
>>8228524
Sell your television. You'll almost immediately feel happier
You get to the point of wanting to read after forcing yourself to improve at it. It sucks at first because your vocabulary is much smaller than you thought, your imagination is atrophied and you are unable to visualize effectively, you read slowly, you forget. Eventually these things ameliorate themselves with time.
>>8231684
Alright, one thing I noticed is that I always have to pause and lookup the definitions of words, but I feel like I don't retain the word I use. Should I try really hard to learn new words? Or just read the definition once to just know what the author was trying to say?
>>8231511
I don't have one, I watch shit on the internet
>>8231327
I didn't think there was anyone besides me that would ask a question like this lol, but I will try to read, I think I just realized I need to fix bad habits rather than read
>>8228639
lol, how do I craft my own father figure? I think the only person I've ever looked up to is some of my older brothers friends
>>8228626
Damn that's pretty crazy I never thought of that, I remember reading something that said some thought the future world be ruled by control and force, but it is controlled by impulsiveness and and pleasure. im13andthisisdeep
>>8228618
hmmm I will try to be more focused this year, but I feel like doing it like that is a worse than thinking that I should just discipline myself OVERALL rather than make like resolutions maybe
>>8228612
I already workout so do I need to do the 10 minute walk? Or is that to help me get relaxed?
>>8228605
good advice man thank you
>>8228609
what if i can't do step one?
>>8232172
>I have to look up words
Yeah this will get better. Keep looking up words. Do not be afraid of forgetting. There are some words I can get on one look, others I look up 100 times before it sticks.
One recommendations I can give you is dictionary apps on your phone(if you have one). Merriam Webster is better for quick definitions. Dictionary.com has nice features as well. I have both.
I became an avid reader like three months ago and I can't stop. I stopped watching tv and I don't spend much time on 4chan anymore.
Here's how I did it.
-Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person
-Don't force yourself to read. Commit to read 5 pages a day. I swear after three days you'll feel like reading more and after a month or so you should be reading 50-100 pages a day for pleasure
-Read various books at the same time. When I grab a difficult book or one that makes me sleepy I grab another and switch. This should refresh your head. Keep them thematically different. I read economics and fiction.
-It isn't a race. Reading slowly won't make you sleepy that fast. Try to acknowledge what books are for you to read fast and which aren't.
-Buy the physical copies. When you get the books from your own money you'll feel the need to read them to avoid the feel of wasting your money.
-Start with books highly discussed here so you feel motivated to discuss.
