Is /fit making mental gains?

>audiobooks
Fucking off yourself.

Audiobooks are not a substitute for reading. You will take in only a fraction of the text through audiobooks, especially if you're doing highly distracting activities like lifting or high intensity cardio at the same time.

Even when I'm merely driving on deserted highway I still miss bits.

Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

The lesser known book of his but is decently improving my assessment abilities (when he isn't rambling about the need for global/universal values). Though I am having trouble with the idea that on his death bed he wanted to have all his works burned.

ok bud
so whats wrong about me actually wanting to read?

Some prose writers were meant to be read aloud, at least the ones who care about reviving the best values of history into the present do.

The fact that it took you presumably at least 18 years of your life and probably more to """discover""" that reading is a good idea is proof that you will never, ever benefit from reading. You need at least a base of intelligence to be able to interpret and analyse literature and you clearly lack it.

Go back to swinging from the bars in the gym like the hairless monkey that you are. You can have all the sex with brainless stacies that you like. Be content with that, and leave the grown up aspects of the world to the grown ups.

Uppity untermensch are the most annoying thing on this planet.

whatever you say man

That's true, but War and Peace isn't exactly beat poetry. Homer? Dante? Sure. Les Mis?????

You're so sad in life

Kill yourself worthless autist

I really really like self help books. The Compassionate Samurai is one of my favorites. Honestly can say made a lot of things in my life a lot better for me

Start with the Greeks, they were swole as fuark!

Sure, ignore my advice. Go ahead, try to read good books. I suggest you start with The Count of Monte Cristo. You'll never finish it but at least it will teach you why Western canon and all its glory is perpetually out of the reach of your doubtlessly well-developed arms.

It's only 460,000 words.

You can even start right now, for free.
gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm#linkC2HCH0001

>Artistic work of fiction

>t. book nazi
Fuck you pal
You're trying to discourage OP so you can keep all the books for yourself

>self help books
I think you mean self help """""""books"""""""". Though it stands to reason someone like you would enjoy them.

>The Veeky Forums is immunized against all dangers: one may call him a DYEL, fat, thicc, bitchtits, it all runs off him like water off a raincoat. But call him a pleb and you will be astonished at how he recoils, how injured he is, how he suddenly shrinks back: “I’ve been found out.”

THEY'RE MY BOOKS.

MY BOOKS.

youtube.com/watch?v=p1F7hZzIckA

OP, tell us what interests you (besides lifting) and we'll recommend some books to you, hopefully.

Kill yourself worthless autist

I'm OP and my other interests include smoking pot behind the bleachers and hitting myself in the face with a pan.

Is meditations really a meme or is it worth a 'ead.

Why u mad tho?

No, you're this guy: wesplain.com/feminism/its-time-we-made-muscle-shaming-a-thing/

>This fucking thread

why is Veeky Forums so mean tonight

>ive literally read no books in my life
Serious question: are you black?

What are you talking about? This guy has never read a book before! Start him on little golden books like we all did. Try old mother goose, OP

not sure what you're getting at my man.

I marathoned the foreword yesterday, seems ok.

start with the greeks
pic related should help

Meditations will mostly teach you Stoicism, and Stoicism can be best described as the philosophy of sour grapes - I can't have it so I will teach myself not to want it.

If you're interested in political philosophy I suggest you read "Two Concepts of Liberty" by Isaiah Berlin. It's only an essay but it's very good because it provides an overview of both liberal thought and some key opponents (including Stoicism).

If you're interested in personal virtue start with Socrates.

If you're interested in ancient Rome I'd recommend reading a second source, not a primary source, first. Without understanding the basics of Roman society you won't get much out of Caesar's war stories.

when you finish these go here

>implying
We should excel in both the physical and mental sphere of life, and those that don't (which is OP so far) or can't (which is likely to be OP based on his apparent inability to see the value in reading) have failed at their lives.

However, out of the two aspects, your intellect is infinitely more important than your physique. No dumb gymrat ever made a fraction of a percent the impact as the weakest cloistered academic.

I doubt any of you unhelpfull fags benches at least two plate. Stay mad, cucks.

here is Veeky Forums's most popular books

Meditations is Optimistic Stoicism - "I can't have the grapes but if I keep trying I will reach them."

>little golden books
I think OP needs these first. Don't want to stress him.

Self-help books belong in the trash.

If you want to develop as a person read real philosophy, not feel good garbage.

>optimistic stoicism
aka self-delusion.

All philosophy is an attempt by a person to feel happy when they consider the sum total of their life. Optimistic stoicism places value on mere aspiration so that no matter how hard you fail you will always feel good about it.

This is not conducive to being actualised.

Then what are some of your favorite philosophers and books?
I'm curious now

>when you try to make a reading list but all you know are the big names in Western canon and some pleb tier philosophical wankery
Read "Clash of Civilisations" and "Terror and Liberalism." Reading about politics is the best way to develop personally because it forces you to actually answer questions. Reading about how you should detach yourself in the face of inevitable pain, loss, and death does nothing. Without practice you will never achieve that. When reading about contemporary politics you consider real issues that affect real people that you will see on the news, and you will have the chance to practice responding to them through the lens of your readings.

If you find you don't like this, you can then look for a political ideology that suits you better.

Political ideology is largely drawn from the same core beliefs that your perspective on personal virtue is drawn from. They're more linked than most people think.

The asceticism aspect ain't too bad but the acceptance of everything for endurance sake doesn't make one a very pragmatic person. Stoics (and Buddhists) just feign indifference until it's second nature, producing an impressive spectacle which ensures endless former-hedonist followers.

Fiction's for children and try-hards. Read books that will actually help you develop practical skills like web design, NLP, diet books, how to pick up bishes etc.

>favorite philosophers
John Rawls
Slavoj Zizek
Mao "Check out my" Zedong
Max "Spookbuster" Stirner

>books?
I'll pick just three.
Crash and Beyond: Causes of the Global Financial Crisis by Andrew Farlow
Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS by Johan Voss
And lastly The Redemption of Althalus by David & Leigh Eddings. I know it's shitty genre fiction but I read it as a child and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

That's pretty much my opinion of it too. Believing in a simple life without hedonism is fine, but it doesn't require you to throw away the emotions and connections and even pain that makes you a thinking human being in the first place.

It's interesting that Stoicism and its descendants is always popular during periods of crisis.

> t. beta autist who's afraid of chad taking his books, vis a vis the only method he has of feeling superior left

>implying you could even lift my books

>mao, zizek and stirner on a single list
does fucking pleb still think stirner was a commie?

propably he is still wondering why he doesnt have friends while he is clearly so intelectually superior

I like Stirner for the memes, tbqh.

I'm reading an icelandic saga for those viking gains. Bought it cheap, $1 at a local used stuff store. I also own a reading pad / e-book reader tablet thingy, which is amazing. Battery lasts for months, no joke. And it can take thousands of books. So yeah i don't know what i'm going to read after the saga, (Njal's saga btw) but on the tablet i've got the works of Plato, books by Nietzsche, some Warhammer 40K book that seems promising, a few history books.

>I also own a reading pad / e-book reader tablet thingy

Mind telling me why you can't do both?

Reading fiction has benefits like increasing empathy, vocabulary and creativity, to name a few. I don't understand why pretentious cunts like you always hate on it. Its not like fiction and non-fiction are mutually exclusive.
You clearly have time to shitpost on Veeky Forums so don't try bringing the "but my time is limited" argument into this.

Anyway, in addition to what Veeky Forums has already pointed out, here are a few other writers I reckon would be a decent to start on.

>Peter Watts
If you think you might be into sci-fi. He is a marine biologist and tackles some interesting themes in his books, like consciousness, free will etc.
>Robert Greene
Admittedly fedoracore books about manipulating people. but they have some interesting historical examples.
>Carl Sagan
Science, some fiction and analysis on skepticism.
>Steven Erikson
Malazan is really good for fantasy and the writer himself is an anthropologist, so you can find some interesting parallels from his books and history.
>Jorge Luis Borges
Mixes reality and fiction in an interesting way.
>Nick Bostrom
Talks about artificial intelligence, the universe as simulation and such.

Also Camus, Mieville, Bertrand Russell, but I reckon that's enough for now.

I just finished Stross' Accelerando myself and thanks to Veeky Forumss insistence, started reading The Iliad, which is quite good.. Also picked up Homo Ludens and The Hero With a Thousand Faces to delve more into the meat of fiction throughout history.

Also, read The Count of Monte Cristo, despite what this cunt says. Its one of my favorite books, if not the favorite, and I don't really think there is anything in it you can't grasp.

>I just finished Stross' Accelerando
Did you like it? I thought it was shit.

how can someone be this wrong

For you to start with.

History, philosphy, art and fantasy

Nope im white just never had any interest in reading as a kid the only things ive ever read were books for school but nothing out of my own will

I thought it was decent. Nothing great, but still a fun read. I liked how the AI and vile offspring ended up being so incomprehensible to rest of us, but that was probably because I'd just come off Bostrom's Superintelligence.

I admit that the book was quite over the top though and the constant fetish shit was a bit annoying.

Why did you think it was shit exactly?

>history
Any of the millions of "Daily Life in Ancient Rome" books. Seriously, just type that into google books and take your pick.

Reading actual history is just a list of fucking dates. Read about the people that make up history instead. It's fascinating.

>philosophy
Isaiah Berlin's "Two Concepts of Liberty" is a roadmap to contemporary political philosophy. Read it, pick which interests you most, and go from there. Check his citations for further reading.

>art
All books are art.

>fantasy
A Brief History of the Holocaust

Dune

When i say art i mean books about artists
Considering i want a job in the arts i think i should read up on avent garde theory n shit

>When i say art i mean books about artists
Mein Kampf

>Considering i want a job in the arts i think i should read up on avent garde theory n shit
No you should practice your art.

99.99% of making good art is technical skill, not theoretical knowledge. Reading about how to make good art is a substitute for not having "a good eye" for art. Some people have an innate sense of colour theory, some people need a reference book for it. Either way, you want technical documents to assist you in the technical process.

It'd be the equivalent of reading a book about writing to get better at writing, instead of actually fucking writing. On Veeky Forums we'd call that being a 'pseud'.

Good for you, OP. Ignore the total autists bitch that's putting you down. As you said, there's always room for improvement.

I'd say you can go 2 ways (of course there are more) that I think are decent.

One, try to read as many classics as you can. Don't read fiction, try political science, classic novels, entry level philosophy, stuff like that.

Two, find a topic you like and search for books about that. I love music, and I'm a musician, so I read a lot about music theory, people talking about the arts in general, and things like that. I also want to know more feudal Japan (not a weeabo I swear) so I found myself a book that depicts the life of a family of said place and era from the POV of a cat. So far it's OK

It's never too late to start reading and improving yourself, ignore the fucking autists above.

Also try to make it a sustainable process, much like lifting. It aint no use reading a book on 3 days if then you're not going to read for the rest of the month.

Goodspeed bro, tell us what you decided to start later on.

>he's a musician
>and a weeb
>he reads historical fiction and what I have no doubt are pop science """books""" about music
>he thinks reading a book in 3 days is unsustainable
It's too late for you.

Thanks bro really appreciate the kind words
I think im gonna start off with either metro 2033 cuz a friend recommended it
Or some kind of greek/roman history book

Sorry to tell you lad, being a musician is top tier.

Never watched anime in my whole fucking life.

I've read my fair share amount of pop culture books and my fair share amount of more obscure stuff, yes.

I don't know why you imply I read historical fiction, since I do not.

Nonfiction is one of my preferred genres, too.

Also you totally missed the point of what I said about 3 days, which makes me think that you're a sad bitter faggot that goes on a limb to put someone down, and that you don't even lift, given the comparison I made was pretty easily understandable.

Not late for me at all since I started at my 13 to read regularly.

Are you the faggot that was sperging at op?

Whays the name of the bool with the cat POV? Sounds interesting

>being a musician is top tier.
Stopped reading there. I've read enough books to know when I'm wasting my time.

Nice. Even though fiction isn't my preffered genre, I've read good reviews of Metro 2033.

Also dystopian works have their unique kind of charm to me.

good luck my man

Metro 2033 has a lot of monologuing. Most of it good monologuing, but it wasn't what I expected.

>will never know the joy of playing with people you love
>will never know the joy of understanding the intrincacies of a musical piece, on subtle and not-so-subtle levels
>will never know the joy of writing a melody, showing it to someone, and recieve a good critic
>will never know the joy of appreciating a good interpretation and/or discerning between a good and a mediocre one

on a less related note:

>will never know the joy of a qt liking you because you play well/have a decent taste in music.

You're the one missing out my man. No need to be so upset. You really could benefit from getting off your high horse.

You even may find you weren't so high to begin with.

Can someone tell me the name of the gkddamn feudal japan cat book

meant to quote this faggot

Two Bombs Wasn't Enough: What Happens To Cats In Japan When The Sun Goes Down by Hiroyuki Nagayoma.

Yeah dude, it's called "I'm a cat" by Natsume Soseki.

I had very high expectations and then it was all about namedropping and showing how smart the author was, cramming every possible buzzword and meme into the book, while the plot got thinner and thinner and characters ever more absurd. I mean, how can you care about any of the characters if they are essentially immortal and have other copies of themselves? Towards the end I couldn't give less of a shit about them. I also didn't really get what the subplot about the aliens was about. But it's been a while since I read it so my remembered details may be a little fuzzy.

>You really could benefit from getting off your high horse.
I'm sure you like it down there but I have too much self-respect to play in the mud.

>muh qts
You can keep your stacies. Homosexuality is the final redpill. Women will never understand you like a man will.

Quality rhyme at the end there

But youre still a fedor wearing aspie

I want to be happy but my standards won't let me.

I like the way you ignored everything else I said, but the thing I said was less related (as you did with my previous post)

You seem like a sad little person and I'd not be surprised if everyone that talks with you could see that in half an hour.

You're the angry one that's missing out. Nobody else on this thread is.

Have fun with your false sense of superiority.

Maybe think about the idea that someone spending his morning arguing about books on a fitness forum isn't so dedicated to the higher works of art and elevated that he might think.

Goodspeed, my autist.

I love seeing this grin and grab type shots from retards who pick out books they think will make them look intelligent by association

>I like the way you ignored everything else I said
Yeah, that's my favourite part too.

you're a laughing stock.

This is not all true. It's like learning to read chords etc. Reading theoretical stuff helps you copy other people. And when you learn to copy you learn to techniques and can eventually use them in your own work.

>vis a vis
dont u mean "because"?

>literally read no books

Did you drop out of school at age 8..?

when i say i have read no books i mean books outside of school i have never had an interest in reading anything and ive only read books as homework

What kinda stuff are you into, OP? There's no point in reading some meme book if you're not going to get anything out of it or enjoy it.

Maybe start off with The Cat in the Hat and go from there

Veeky Forums here

>reading makes you smart guys I swear!

Fuck off
Meatheads who spend time reading fiction are just trying to cover up their below average IQ

I never read in my free time and barely read for class, but somehow still have great reading and writing skills.
D-did I do good guys?

Of course you did, buddy. Now, lift those weights.

Start with this solid introduction.