When did you realize how much of a waste of time this website is?

When did you realize how much of a waste of time this website is?

I just came to the realization that I could be doing ANYTHING at all and it would be more productive. Nothing valuable ever happens here. You never learn anything new, you never get at the truth, you don't really gain anything whatsoever. This is probably the only activity that is an absolute waste of time. Even masturbation of playing videogames at least trains hand-eye coordination and pattern recognition. (mobs in WoW and BBC in pornhub video listings)

The closest you get is little bits and pieces, and scraping the very surface of different subjects (For example you might learn ECON101 from Veeky Forums, the first few chapters and little excerpts of programming knowledge from /g/, maybe the very basics of exercise and nutrition from Veeky Forums, the very tip of political systems from /pol/, et cetera) but then it pretty much stagnates there and never goes anywhere else. You don't really get opened to critical thought and theory (You might get the very basics of a system vs another system, but never really get indepth or understand the WHY), other than that it's almost entirely people who WANT to contribute to a discussion, but have nothing to contribute to it - as a result they might mockingly quote your post with a laughing image, as if to laugh at your ideas, but not formally refute them (perhaps because their knowledge limits them, or they don't feel like making themselves vulnerable in such a way).

This doesn't even begin to get into all the negative thoughts and ideas you marinate yourself with. The whole ">TFW no gf" and ">You will never ..." sentiment held on every board. This prolonged exposure simply cannot be well for a still malleable and developing(to varying degrees) brain of a young adult.

It's rather shocking how popular Veeky Forums has grown, and the longer term effects of imageboards on the younger populations should be interesting to see.

It's perhaps half a tier above that of YouTube comments or Twitter "arguments".

---- So friends, readers. I urge you to re-consider spending your valuable time on this website, seek new, more productive uses of your time that will build your character as a person and form more efficient neural pathways.

As a /pol/ack of a few years I have to disagree. As the forum gains traction and dilutes you just have to pick your battles; the things I've learned on this site have weathered all the contrary thought in the world thus far.

Veeky Forums helped me find new and interesting things to cook

Veeky Forums got me started on investing

Veeky Forums pointed me in the right direction to start getting my food and exercise routine together

Each board has some kernel of insight that seems like it should be common sense but that no normie I've met has picked up on. Plus there was a long period of depression when my only social interaction was through the site, it might have saved my life.

I too have spent much time on /pol/ but it really only introduced me to other venues of political discussion.

When it comes to different political systems the furthest it goes is about trying to sum up a complex system on which many people have written books and gone into great debate spanning decades into a couple of sentences, or a few paragraphs at most.

it's a great place to post a funnie picture of Moonman shooting a Negro, or a picture of Pepe as a mythical God beyond that it really never goes far into any of the critical theory at all.

It's more like:
>Communism and lefties is bad because Jews
>Anarcho Capitalism/National Socialism is good because no Jews
(Not saying I agree one way or the other but there really needs to be more substance to strongly held beliefs).

There are simply far better forums for discussion on these topics.

it's pretty much universally run by people with at most a layman's understanding trying to present themselves as geniuses.

People on Veeky Forums have passed ECON101 and are now presenting themselves as Economists. People on Veeky Forums have gotten a basic strength level and listened to Marcus Rippetoe and are now presenting themselves as advanced athletes and experienced coaches/physiotherapists. People on /pol/ have read some ideas of Libertarianism and now feel like they have an authority, or perhaps they watched a subtitled speech of Adolf Hitler and are now in love with the Aesthetic and controversy surrounding Fascism. -- Of course rarely, if ever even ATTEMPTING to hold themselves to their tenets and projected "ideals"/value system.

Really as a whole this website is like a sinkhole for peoples' creative thoughts and critical thinking.

You're likely speaking to someone who has no fucking clue what he's talking about - perhaps less than you do, or if more than you it's perhaps by about a week or two of casual reading on the topic (Look ma, I learned basic physiological/technology/political terminology!)

I am being quite hypocritical as I've spent a fair bit of time on Veeky Forums (to varying degrees, sometimes hours a day to none at all for months). But I can honestly say after a nice strong binge of Veeky Forums (any board) I feel as though my debate and reasoning/logical skills have diminished to a noticeable degree.

No longer do i find myself bringing up creative and well thought-out counter-arguments, instead I'm devolving to the most common 4chanian tactic, pointing out flaws in my opponent's argument.
-----

Logical Fallacies. A beloved favorite in modern discussion, but none moreso than on Imageboards. "That's a strawman! You're misrepresenting my argument!" "That's a SLIPPERY SLOPE! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!". Ridiculous.
The very thought of logical fallacies in living and modern language is preposterous. Logic and the Truths table cannot be applied to regular discussion for so many reasons it would take over 2,000 characters to explain. But simply the strategy is more used to discredit and point out holes in an opponent's argument than it is to understand what they meant and present a counterargument.

Or better and more infuriating yet is quoting someone's post condescendingly (or just exaggerating on what they said/taking it out of context) and then attaching a laugh/mocking image.

This all seems very benign but marinating in this cesspool for many hours really does harm your logical thinking. As people trying to hold ourselves to a higher standard, as I would imagine Veeky Forums posters generally to be we mustn't allow this to happen to us.

Bro you just sound like a narcissist. It's good to bounce ideas off others. You sound like someone who assumes they are right before they fall or take a stand, as a preventive measure.

i've been on Veeky Forums since 05

it's what you make of it. it's good for the lulz because it's the only place left on the internet that doesn't censor people (to a degree)

Veeky Forums fucking sucks, never seen a good thread. as a business grad i just come here to laugh at the retards.
/pol/ was good up until the election and now is just an echo chamber
/tv/ can be decent for memes, plus hollywood is cancer
/v/ is awful and you really shouldn't be playing video games anymore (they all suck)
/sp/ is dead for years
/mu/ has been dead for years
Veeky Forums is good for realizing how to dress but beyond that it's pathetic
Veeky Forums is good for realizing how to lift but beyond that it's literally gay
Veeky Forums is funny for neckbeard memes
/x/ is fun for literal schizos
/b/ hasn't been good since 2007

i was 14 in 2005, 26 now. it helped me realize there's more to the world. there's a reason i barely browse when i'm busy. i'd rather go here than other normie timesinks like NFLX, Reddit, etc.

if you're not enjoying your time, just stop browsing. noone will miss you. just like in real life.

>because it's the only place left on the internet that doesn't censor people (to a degree)

I don't believe that censorship is necessarily harmful. Regulation and moderation is needed so that you're not just flinging shit back and forth. Reddit and Tumblr are much better platforms in this sense as you can filter information to your needs and make more efficient use of your time than you would on Veeky Forums, where you'd need to at least skim every post and thread to determine if it's bullshit or not.

i guess user

i just have always hated reddit

as you can see i'm an oldfag and saw reddit as digg 2.0

when i went there a few times i never found it entertaining and the whole "news aggregation" angle was pathetic

and because of that i never registered an account, even having met alex ohaanayaon before all those cucks got rich

found a job through Veeky Forums
learned a lot about human nature
learned a lot about macroeconomics
learned a lot about microeconomics

currently setting up to try and do quite literally had more use of Veeky Forums than I did of anything else in my lfe

This aswell.

Because fuck your geelings snowflake cucks.

Stay triggered.

Starts maga chant.

Ditto.

Reckon there is any money in small equipment rentals? Can dig septic sustems and trenches in my soare time with the shit.

Assuming everyone doesnt just fuck my shit up

ARM THE RETARDED

HOLY FUCKING SHIT user I WAS THERE!

I usually visit /pol/ which started off thanks to my curiosity about some subjects. Turns out there is truth to what people say there, looked into it and got convinced. Investigate the soruces and you'll be alright.

Also got a lot of great books to read off of various boards.

Veeky Forums helps me with bodyweight, and the motivation threads have good contect sometimes.

/g/ knows some cybersecurity which is always welcome

Just don't make it a regular site to visit and you will be alright. When I was depressed I visited it every day, for hours. It gets repetitious after some time.

Check back here and there, do your thing.

FUCK OFF