Can the Veeky Forums of Veeky Forums help me out with discerning what philosophical school of thought you guys ascribe to, and how I should feel?
I am at an moral impasse when I find myself thinking about why I lift. I'm sure much of you hold the same hatred of 'selfie culture' when it comes to people (woman being especially guilty of this) existing in a culture that not only allows but seems to perpetuate this idea of being vapid and vain and self promoting yourself. Obviously knowing that you can, at any time, have validation, much moreso if you are an attractive woman, from perhaps hundreds of people at any given moment with a selfie or picture of yourself via your camera and an upload to Instagram, cannot be a healthy mentality or action to exercise regularly.
However, I would be lying if I said that I am not lifting for the social benefits that come from it, such as admiration, sexual attraction, etc. Of course, my main reason to lifting is obviously health and wellness, as well as perfecting the male physique for the sake of personal progress. Does that make me a hypocrite? Is it wrong of me to make fun of vain women who have nothing to offer but their looks on an instagram page, while I also somewhat get excited at the idea of being admired by many people as well?
How do you guys feel about this?
Jonathan Campbell
Max Stirner. Although you probably wont want to lift after because then lifting would be a spook.
Easton Young
Just ask yourself, what would Marcus Aurelius do
Brayden Long
Stoicism is pretty conducive to fitizenry, especially the Ancient Greek fitizens that had to earn their fitizenship by soldiering instead of birth
Brayden Harris
Everything has a healthy medium. Too little concern for the opinions of others turns you into an autist, too much into a validation dependent ego driven monster. Lifting so that more people perceive you well is fine and is absolutely in the comfy middle ground, because you aren't just seeking mass perception and validation, you are seeking becoming better,so that those who do perceive do so in a better light.
Christopher Ross
I'm actually rereading through Meditations now actually, and Marcus's view of stoicism is very centered around benevolence and not concerning yourself with the thoughts of anyone but your own, as well as limiting sensual pleasures in moderation.
That's all well and good, but I find it hard following those ideas while existing in a society where everyone is on unhealthy levels of narcissism, thinking that they are starring in a movie about themselves and they are the main character.
Is it really alright to just disregard all of that?
Mason Carter
I know pretty much nothing about philosophy but this if from a Veeky Forums poster during /fitlit/.
Brayden White
Will to Power
In every aspect of life. The only philosophy you need to make it.
Liam Perez
I realized I spent 10 entire minutes in the mirror and felt like I was losing control of my life.
Luis Foster
I think you pretty much answered the question yourself
Justin Sanchez
You never control your life in the first place. It's like in poker, you don't control what hands you get, you just try to make decisions relative to what you think is still in the deck and what you think the others have, but you never completely control the outcomes
Camden Garcia
I guess so, I just have to stop getting pissed off so easily at how stupid social media can be at times
Marcus's view on death and fame is pretty sobering though, when he talks about living for fame and how useless and wasteful it is to concern your thoughts with that of thespians and celebrities, but none of it will matter as there is an infinite amount of time before the present and an infinite amount of the future, and the people who even give a shit about anyone who is famous will be dust in the wind within a century
Evan Russell
Well the wage slave life is more of an IV drip than a hand at poker.
Benjamin Jones
I think it's good to think about your own mortality once in a while. Helps you take the risks you need i think.
Brandon Howard
So escape the wage slave life or get a higher wage, dumbass.
Kayden Howard
A mixture of stoicism, that basically says what happens to you is out of your control, but your reaction is entirely within your own control, and Zen Buddhism, which is focused on meditation and control of your own mind.
The reason I lift is because I want to be big enough so that I don't look like an easy target, and be attractive for obvious reasons.
Selfie culture is obvious cancer, but ultimately you can't stop people from acting based on how they want, and good for you if you realize that there's a better way to live.
Ethan Morgan
I regard politics and celebrity bullshit the same way I regard rogue asteroids or Yellowstone; real, terrifying and totally beyond my control.
Wyatt Jenkins
>what would Marcus Aurelius do Be a cuck
Justin Anderson
Was he a cuck?
Xavier Robinson
You're seeking answers to personal philosophical questions on Veeky Forums
You don't need to lift for health and wellness, you need shock therapy
Aiden Butler
Pardon this guy's retardation, it is beyond our control
Isaiah Taylor
His wife allegedly cheated on him. Keep in mind this is a man who spent the majority of his time on the front lines fighting barbarians, and probably had a harm of fine young women anyway.
Kevin Allen
>but I find it hard following those ideas while existing in a society where everyone is on unhealthy levels of narcissism, thinking that they are starring in a movie about themselves and they are the main character. The world is going mad and you wanna get caught up in the tide. So be it, user
>fine young women >women
Logan Richardson
Ladyboys are women you racist
Leo Reyes
>ctrl f >Marcus Aurelius >more than 0 hits
OH BOY HERE WE GO PLEASE TAKE YOUR GARBAGE MEDITATIONS ELSE WHERE AND FOLLOW A REAL PHILOSOPHER EVEN BETTER JUST PRACTICE THINKING LOGICALLY SO THAT YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS ARE WORTH SOMETHING
my answer to your question op: 1) why is being a hypocrite bad? 2) why do you make fun of vain women on Instagram 3) why do you consider them vain and assume they have nothing to offer
from these you can determine why you are confused. in my opinion it is because you don't understand the value of appearance, thus the same way you judge others you judge yourself. because you don't know why you judge others you don't know why you judge yourself or viseversa but the point is the same
i don't feel like formatting or grammer checking but i hope this information is easy to parse
Henry Davis
What are exemples of real philosophers?
Nicholas Powell
Why is it that anytime someone mentions Aurelius someone gets butthurt?
Sure he's not some famous philosopher who you can namedrop to make your brain dick appear bigger but it's interesting to read how a Roman emperor thought and how much it can apply to our own lives.
Charles Allen
i shouldn't have said real philosophers i was emotional as you can tell with the caps
there's really no one worth following personally i read one of Descartes meditations where he said he threw away everything he "knew" because all of it could be disputed he really went crazy with it in a logical basically saying that all info we gather about the world is through flawed senses and thus no knowledge is absolute from which he determined his famous i think therefore i am as his undisputed fact after which he said a bunch of other stupid shit but the point was it inspired me because I thought the same way he had. it led me to be more confident in my way of thinking and to continue to refine it
actually that story won't help you at all i'm just rambling sorry buddy i have no suggestions just google philosphers
Gavin Watson
i got butthurt because it was praised so much that i couldn't help but be disappointed after I spent the time reading it front to back
not one new idea or perspective the ones that do exist are better represented else where
this bitterness in combination with the continued praise from others causes me to lash out
I want to pretend its because i'm defending the name of philosophy, and that if people really get into it but they read that garbage they might say philosophy isn't worth pursuing
but really i'm just made i wasted the time and its an easy target to hate
Michael Roberts
Fair enough. I think it's a decent casual level book though.
David Bailey
what do you enjoy about it?
Jacob Foster
Maybe I'm biased, but you said you had not one new idea or perspective, while for me, many of the views were very fresh to me at the time.
I'm not very big on philosophy though, so I don't doubt that there's more in depth books out there.
Noah Thomas
The "selfie culture" as you call it is pure autism, not meme autism, actual autism. If one who hasnt touched social media were to be told about "memes" he would look you like mentally challenged. Just because a lot of people are on this """inside joke""" social media provide (not memes, generally the whole information it can provide) doesnt mean its not autistic. Personally I lift solely for my physical well-being, im fully aware that by lifting I will be more attractive and will be more prone to stereotypes such as the meathead one and I have accepted since I lift. You can laugh at whoever you want, who says whats right and wrong, good or bad, sane or insane. In the end if you really despise the "selfie culture" quit social media, but we both know you wont because you crave the dopamine boost
Juan Green
>many of the views were very fresh to me at the time hey well good for you
Owen Ortiz
On one hand 99% of the people that hate this culture are just sour grapes that they dont get their daily dick tickle of 100 likes.
The 1% see it for what it is regardless and realize it's not good for the mental state.
it doesn't really matter what side you're on, just know the difference between people voluntarily off the grid and people who never had the chance to be included in such a culture in the first place.
Hudson Jenkins
The only thing people need is Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus
>You need the struggle >we are defined by the neverending suffering of our existence >KYS or LOL about it
Charles Nguyen
>realize it's not good for the mental state amen >never had the chance to be included ironically one of the reasons i lift control issues right i 100% don't want what i can't have but i want to be able to have it
Jace Watson
What difference does it make? If you're an outcast, then you're an outcast.
Josiah Torres
The works of Miyamoto Musashi are worth reading.
Andrew Barnes
I ascribe to the Zyzz philosophical school of thought - "If you're a fucking shredded sick cunt, you get away with anything bro. You make fun of some fat cunt making a shit and people will be like "Aw yeah, Zyzz bro, yeah". No one'll give a fuck, man. In life, if you wanna be noticed, you gotta be a fuckin' ripped cunt. You gotta be a shredded cunt. You gotta go to the gym and be a sick cunt. You gotta fuck bitches, you know and not give a fuck cuz that's what we do, bro. That's what the Zyzz cunts do. That's what the revolution is, bro. None of these fuckin' sad cunts. We're all gonna fuckin' make it bro, that's it."