Is it true that reading and thinking make you miserable? I'm still young (still technically a teenager)...

it will make you miserable, but you would also not want to go back

It won't make you miserable, because your point of view will change to a completely different paradigm. So it might look miserable from the outside, but it's far from the truth.

Good, run free my son, run and never look back. Live your life and share it well and turn not the grumbling wizards in the darkness

>Will this actually give me guidance?
Yeah it's kind of a saying on this board, the "Start with Phenomenology of Spirit" meme because it's a good, compact way to get into reading

Not when the new paradigm is a miserable one

Pretty sure you're joking, but I'm afraid to be rude to you just in case you're being serious.

Really? I've attempted to get into philosophy before with the Greeks, but gave up because ethics and justice and all wasn't very interesting to me. People describe reading Kant and Schopenhauer as life-changing experiences, but to me it looks like they're only solving meaningless abstract concepts in their head that have no bearing on the real world. Should I give it another go?

no it won't, they're fucking with you

and they're fucking with you there too

No. Reading doesn't make you miserable. Reading saved my life and gave meaning to it. The people that tell you that reading makes you miserable are people that are just miserable to begin with.

There is nothing stopping you from socializing, going to the gym, and reading. You don't have to choose between being a brain-dead socialite and a literary hermit because these are arbitrary constrictions you invented and put on yourself. You have to realize that the world does not expect you to fit into a certain image, or a certain ideal. There will be nobody to judge you at the end of your life except for yourself.

I think that you should read, if only because you seem like the type of person that will always have curiosity bugging them in the back of their mind. If you have an interest in reading to begin with, go for it. But you should always socialize with others, work out, and for god's sake, don't take literally everything on Veeky Forums seriously, because most people on here are either joking or mentally ill.

It sounds like what you need most of all is guidance and balance in your life, and I think reading would be excellent for you. Just don't read the wrong shit. I'd be happy to tell you what to start with if you're still interested.

No it's actual the perfect book for a young man uncertain about their future, it's protagonist starts off uncertain of all that's around him, and progressively moves along until he understands the connection of the entire world, and finally "knows" himself. It's all about learning from your negative experience, along the way he meets lots of whacky communities and characters, he even works for a master before becoming one himself. Lots of historical allusions the entire time, but the best part is that it's totally self contained. Just don't listen to the grumpy misogynist german grandpa, he's just mad he can't will girls into liking him

Don't get meme'd user. Do not start with Hegel. I guarantee you will regret the time and effort you put in only to realize that without the proper background you actually misunderstood the terminology and need to start all over again. I have a degree in philosophy and have been labouring over Hegel in my spare time for months now. Get a good philosophy textbook, an anthology that covers roughly from Plato to Nietzsche. This is the best possible way to "start".

>ethics and justice
So the penal system and how to proceed with Artificial Intelligence(to create one, you would need a robust ethics system) seem meaningless to you, but being invited to parties does? Reading makes you analyse everything you want and do more easily. What exactly do you mean by normal life? Would you be true to yourself by "having" a "normal" life? What feels more fulfilling in the long end? Reading and thinking might not have the answers, but they might lead someone to interesting places.

insofar as my hobbies are conducive to mental health, reading is quite good

posting on Veeky Forums all day, on the other hand, will make you a lunatic sooner or later

>Phenomenology of Spirit
>protagonist
wait, did you even read it or are you just memeing Hyppolite?

>did you even read it
Yup, and if you missed the layer of protagonist consciousness you definitely didn't get the other two. That's like reading the Republic as strictly political philosophy

>solving meaningless abstract concepts
If the underlying structures of reality are meaningless concepts for you I don't think you'll have a good time with philosophy. I'd recommend hopping into ethics because (today at least) it skips metaphysics in favour of pragmatism - unfortunately that doesn't seem interesting to you either.

>Hyppolite
>meme
How dare you, without him Hegel would be nothing

pervegalit.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/how-to-fake-your-way-through-hegel/

Heh jokes on you, I was trying to derail another thread into Hegel pseudodiscussion

Parties don't mean anything to me. Nothing does, that's why I spend all day here. And that's also why philosophy bothers me - it doesn't account for everything. How are you meant to study ethics when you feel no moral impulse within you? No one will tell you. How to devote your life to passion when you lack any? Nothing. You can't claim to have universal answers when you're not accounting for all possible situations. It feels like a lie.

You can do all those things. You can balance, a normal healthy lifestyle such as having some friends and working out while also enjoying knowledge, learning and reading. You just don’t need to talk about that stuff with everyone you meet. You can have personal interests that involve higher though that don’t have a negative impact on having a relatively happy life.

Alright, yeah, I'm interested. What are your recommendations?

Alright man, i'll give you an answer these guys wont.

The most obvious answer for attaining a happy life is a balance, the people that read all the time and don't socialize are obviously going to be depressed, oh I wonder why. There probably is a correlation between the material they read and the conclusion they come to and their outlook on life, no shit. In the same token the people that watch t.v all day and are stimulated by the same generic bullshit day after day, they will be punished by the balance of ignorance in their turn. The happiest people are the ones who educate themselves but don't let themselves be overcome by seclusion or depression.

>Basically, get a life but don't be a dumb cunt and read as well.

You're right. It's just, talking to people is so hard, and talking to girls is even harder. I sound childish, but I just don't get how people do it so easily. I thought if I stopped reading and learning it would be a simple solution.

Stoner by John Williams
Dubliners by James Joyce
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy

if these books don't excite you to delve further into reading (and life, in general) i honestly don't know what will. best case scenario you find one of your true callings in life. worst case, well, you still read some amazing stories and hopefully they should have some sort of effect on your life.

if you're still game, go for the greeks: the iliad and odyssey translated by fagles, lattimore, or fitzgerald, plato's dialogues and the republic, and all of aristotle's works. the sky's the limit from there, friend

You get better at it the more you do it. If you don't keep doing it, you lose it. Some people are just better at it than others but some are a whole hell of a lot worse. That's the name of the game when you compare yourself to others all the time.

kek this

Thank you. I haven't read Stoner or Suttree, but I did enjoy Dubliners, particularly A Little Cloud, A Mother, and The Dead. Think I'll re-read it and check out Stoner and Suttree.

yeah just keep doing it, i'm guessing the problem you have is probably that you look at them as people who have their shit figured out, it's not true, nobody has their shit figured out and nobody knows whats going on, just work on yourself and have fun and find someone that is fun to hang out with and interests you.

>talking to girls is even harder
that's cause you're thinking with your dick. echoing other anons, just do it more, preferably in a natural setting like among friends or in school clubs