Is Reading Fiction Pointless

Not trolling but is reading books especially fiction in particular a waste of time?
Recently this was pointed out to me and it got me thinking it might just be. Just like watching movies all the time reading books are a black hole of wasted time. Reading fiction is basically filling my head with junk food. Also not being a writer or English major this is an unproductive hobby as I get nothing I can use in daily life. I'm also ostracizing myself from the world with such an introverted hobby. Unless I'm reading math, science, or programming textbooks I'm ultimately just looking for a form of escapism and fueling my own laziness.
Idk what do you guys think? This isn't the first time either I've been told this either.

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It allows you to gain a perspective on a cultural moment, gives you a compelling look at another's point of view and is sometimes beautiful.

is living a waste of time?

not because it isnt (((useful for the develpment of society))) its pointlss

It's a waste of time if you read actual trash genre-fiction, and it's a waste of time if you are a retard.

>not trolling
Sure

I think you're right. I enjoy sci fi :(

There is trash scifi and then there is the stuff that's not trash.

fiction is a bow
you are the string
your life is the resonance body

sometimes its too early to use the bow

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No, not all fiction is pointless. A lot of fiction is complete trash, especially a lot of modern fiction. But to throw it all out is stupid. Shakespeare is fiction, Aeschylus and Aristophanes are fiction. Homer is mostly fiction. Dickens is fiction. All these names will be remembered forever because they produced works of art that are transcendent and true examples of high art.

You can't fall for the utilitarianism meme, please...

most important thing

I guess I do agree with the basic idea of utilitarianism but I don't agree with it's application to poverty. It says the rich should be taxed of all their income and have it redistributed which is a terrible idea. So am I still a utilitarian?

dumb as hell post right here i am being trolled

not all

anotha dumb as shit post!!

>unproductive hobby
>unproductive

Yes goy, never do anything that doesn't have an immediate material benefit. Work, consume, accumulate wealth, sleep. Good goy.

Fiction can be good if it inspires a virtues character, pic related.

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Literary fiction is pointless, because you could just talk to real people instead. Genre fiction is valuable because it lets you experience impossible things.

1) You commit an anthropological crime if you are not acquainted with the major works of the Western canon. Period.
2) You should also read some poetry in your native languages, just to realize what the language is capable of (IF your mother tongue is English, I may recommend to you Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Marianne Moore and Elizabeth Bishop).
after that yeah... you can study your programming textbooks...

>accumulate wealth
>implying this is a bad thing

Literally fedora-tier

Very deep post

good authors will not only create a story but will also insert problems, knowledge, philosophy, etc in their stories. You will not come out of a good book empty handed unless you are retarded.

>you could just talk to real people
Haha yeah

Me? No, not at all. Good goy.

It feels good, man

Give the kid a break. Yeah I think you can still be utilitarian you'd just have to justify the utility gained in not distributing the wealth. Not that I think utilitarianism a viable position anyway...

Good fiction.

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It's a form of entertainment and insight which can be beneficial.

>ITS DA JOOS WHO INVENTED PRAGMATISM AND MATERIALISM AND UTILITARIANISM AND CAPITALISM AND POSITIVISM HURRR
>ITS THE JOOS
>good goy
OH NO ANUDDA SHOA THE GOYS WON'T CONTRIBUTE TO WHITE CORPORATIONS NAD THE WHITE OWNED STOCK MARKET HOW WILL WE BLOW UP PALESTINIANS AND CAUSE THE HOMO EPIDEMIC TO SPREAD OY GEVALT

Thanks for the recs

what else would i do

Reading literary fiction is the most sincere form of conversation a man can enjoy with another human of either contemporary or past times.

No, watch the Zizek Pervert's Guide movies. Fiction is never just fiction.

>Dickens

Did you run out of people?

>OP tries to read Fiction
>can't understand big words
>WAAAAH FICTION IS POINTLESS I WANT SOMETHING EXPLAINED TO ME UP FRONT AND I WANT MY BOOKS TO WIPE MY ASS AND CHANGE MY DIAPER

This is how you sound like at the moment

This. You can "just go out and talk" with some people, but if you believe that it's important to engage with a wide variety of people then by overlooking ancient people you could be leaving out some pretty valuable stuff. The thing about the "dead white guys" meme is that simply by virtue of being far removed from us in time means that we can probably "challenge our perspectives" and whatnot by reading them just as well as anyone else.

“All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.” -Gene Wolfe

fucking textbooks? Really? LOL

If you learn how to chew your food, then you wouldn't choke on it.

This. People have been indoctrinated into believing reading books will raise your intelligence but really, a retard will always be a retard no matter how many books he reads and pretends to comprehend.

Correct. Reading literature is almost a form of meditation where you learn to quiet your own interiority and tune into another's, and then go off and critically think about what you've just taken in. It teaches patience, understanding, empathy, aesthetic appreciation, critical thought... you know, all the things that make the world a better place to live in? So there's your utilitarianism, if you need it, I guess?

>It teaches patience, empathy, aesthetic appreciation
Cuckold shit.

>understanding, critical thought
Wrong. You can't improve your intelligence, it's genetic.

study demonstrably sharpens wits, almost all of the ruling class read casually you dumb posture pseud STEMnigger

>>Empathy, Patience
>>LE KEK SHIT HURRR DURRR FEDURRRA

Thanks for my first laugh of the day, user. Blessings be upon your blasted asshole.

Philosophical fiction is useful. I'm atheist but I got exposed to some stuff on Dostoyevsky's books that got me thinking.
Apart from that, I would say that fiction like Lord of the Rings is totally useless. I still read fiction but at the same time I read non-fiction to balance it out.

Correlation does not equal causation. Just because intelligent people read doesn't mean reading makes you intelligent if you aren't already.

stemfag detected

are you really that retarded?

yes

isnt intelligence a meme anyway ?

I would much rather read a piece of well written fiction that is thought provoking compared to non-fiction garbage like Marx

>Not trolling but is reading books especially fiction in particular a waste of time?
Before asking that you should examine why exactly you care whether something is a "waste of time", what that even means, and whether it's actually something negative.

>Homer is mostly fiction
[citation needed]

U. Just means, the action/decision which is best/most usefull for the most people, is the better (even good) action/d. of all actions/d. Those applications you wrote dont seem to follow out of this in every case.

Worst post in this thread. And OP already put the bar incredibly low in the first place.
Kill yourself.

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>talking about wastes of time while posting on Veeky Forums

reading anything STEM even if you are clearly never going to be in the position to apply it has inherent utility and is smart and good

reading something you enjoy that may even convey some mystical experience has no utility for society and is pointless

The best part about life is fiction, really.
It may be 'useless' in 'reality' but honestly I don't see a point in living without this useless shit, because this useless shit is the only good thing left
What even defines value? What contributes to society or your skills? Things that are practical and able to be applied?
I know I probably am talking bullshit but honestly I dont care

If you need some sort of utilitarian reason to read fiction, then yes it is probably a waste of time (for you).

Who posted this shit on /r/books

>I don't understand the point of vicariously experiencing things I normally wouldn't
You also hate horror movies, porn and rollercoaster rides.
It's okay, go back to coding JavaScript where nothing confuses you.

For neurotypicals, this a cathartic exercise made necessary by modern life where constant actual life threatening struggle isn't really a part of existence. And like others have suggested, it can give a sense of being understood where it might be lacking in one's own life.

You can't help being a boring piece of shit on the spectrum. Own it but don't project.

Why are watching movies or reading books or consuming any form of entertainment art a "waste of time". Do you not enjoy it? Do you not learn from it? Does it not make you think?

Whats more productive than consuming knowledge and art?

>You can't improve your intelligence, it's genetic.
only 50-70%, so theres still room for improvement
also chicken-egg effect for IQ,it may be we shape our society around it

show us your katana

I'm still annoyed about this friggin doofus 12 hours later

No I'm a wage slave trying to move up a socioeconomic class. I'm still in college and I fee like I should be completely consumed by my studies. I have been feeling this way after failing to obtain an internship for the summer due to an amateurish portfolio. I have since been rethinking my life choices that have led me to incompetence.

Care to recommend some utilitarian works? And works challenging this?

Not sure how I got this way. I've always been a work hard now, maybe you'll enjoy yourself later type. Any books on helping me owning it or to change my outlook?

Creating no?

It's 85-90% genetic, with the remaining 10% coming from deteriorative mutability rather than improvement like exposure to lead or head injury.