Just curious about the age of the average Veeky Forums poster...

Just curious about the age of the average Veeky Forums poster. I remember when I first crept over here from Veeky Forums how I imagined all the most bizarre and fringe opinion holders of the intellectual elitists coming here to profane and say all the shit they can't get away with from their stuffy armchairs.

Now I'm starting to suspect it's just a bunch of highschoolers and college sophomores
/freshman who got some kind of praise from their english teachers or actually read the books their teachers assigned and started to fancy themselves as fancymen.

I'd like to find that I'm wrong on both counts (though I'm certainly the latter)

In short: Tell me about yourself Veeky Forumsfag

22

19

So user?
Have your english teachers set you down this path, or have you always been a literary lad?

25, currently prepping to get into grad school for philosophy.

How are those career prospects looking user?
Not asking to be a dick, I'm genuinely curious.

27, only high school. No ambition I guess and I'm not too bright.

26, degree in writing (technical, not creative)

22
Finishing up a degree in English.

Dang man, that's quite the self esteem you've got there. Most of the truly stupid people I've met, have never been willing to describe themselves as such. And I know plenty of truly intelligent people who never even got their GEDs.
Cut yourself some slack user. I bet you anything that self conception of yours is doing a shit ton more damage than your actual intelligence ever has.

First time here was in 8th grade. Now I'm almost 21 and a sophomore in college. I've been reading random lit since high school and have started studying philosophy this year.

Most of the guys you were thinking of left years ago.

47
english degree, writing emphasis

Shit man, I'm just surprised to hear they were ever here in the first place. What the fuck was that like?

23/M/NZ, software engineer who likes fiction

You've already locked down a job like that at 23?
You sound chill af my goon.

what did you study at uni?

Same major here.
What kind of jobs have you been able to land? I'm slightly concerned that I'll have any work opportunities when I graduate.

Computer engineering. Which was basically a mix of electrical engineering and computer science.

I'm more of a film guy but /tv/ is a disgusting pit so I hang out here.

Ya but it's a junior position obviously. Once I get senior on my CV I can fuck off to some other company and pretty much double my salary

23, Norwegian, graduate student in Japanese to English translation

I don't think I've ever bothered reading American literature. Is there any point?

Funny, I was raised by a tv/film buff myself, and I've never even bothered visiting /tv/. I was afraid of exactly what you described.


Good luck with that dude, seriously.

We certainly have our moments.
Especially if you include the English language works as a whole.

very nice user. am I fucked studying IT with a focus on web dev? I changed majors last year to IT and don't have time now to switch and finish CS. Opinion on programming with an IT degree? /g/ told me as long as you know the language and can preform you are good.

also whats your favorite book?

>Is there any point?
No American """""Literature""""" is garbage. Their books are basically rough toilet paper for hardasses. They just export though, too rough for their soft boi pussies.

Yeah it really doesn't matter tbqh user. There's IT, CS, CIS/IS/MIS, and so on. I'm studying programming in CIS alongside a business degree. If you know the programming language and have some internship experience you'll be good.

21
I've had a hard life thus far...
No family, been on my own since I was 14 and supported myself through work since then.

The only solace I had was in books through my years. I've read for as long as I remember; Tolkien in grade 3, Dostoyevky by the time I was 13. I fancy myself a rather intelligent young man, though I pretty much flunked out of high school and just now recently got my diploma last year. School just never really interested me, as I had very little time to actually commit myself to the amount of work they assigned. I was usually too exhausted to even bother showing up past grade 10.

I've been writing a lot. I kind of underwent a sort of "renaissance" recently, as I call it; I discovered just how quick in the head I really am, how I can devour a book like Gravity's Rainbow and manipulate my own writing to mirror anything that I've read (Blood Meridian really messed with my own natural grammatical flow, man). With this newfound skill, I managed to win a few short story contests I've entered with pieces under 2,000 words that I usually churn out over the course of two nights.

I feel like I have what it takes to a serious "writer." I tend to roll my eyes when other people tell me that one's first novel is usually shit, that it won't work, that no one will want to read it, because whenever I sit down to read the 36,234 words I've written so far, I find myself being absolutely impressed by what I can really do--how easily rich sentences with natural, consonant poetic flow and deep emotional impact just happen to me. It's feels like on some nights I'm really tapping into something astral. It's like a drug, really. I see myself doing nothing other than that for the rest of my life, however long or short that may be.

I've sent out a few queries with samples of my short stories and novel excerpts last month... I've received 3 requests for manuscripts back. Being, what they call, an "a writer from a diverse ethnic background" really seemed to fling my name to the top of the inquiry box. I milk my heritage, yes. So what? If that fuck Joseph Boyden lied about being Native American and built his career off that, then surely I can as a real one...

Thanks. I was in art school actually last semester. I'm studying webdev and philosophy now. Starting with some greeks so thats pretty based.

That scene is the best. I still sometimes listen to a youtube compilation of all the philosophical voiceovers/quotes they did in that movie.

Anywho, this whole 'lit died x years ago' is a meme. Go on any board at any point in history and you'll find people drooling over the past

Even if your writing skills are a lie, this bait is written beautifully.

i'm 33, have a music degree i never did anything with and ended up in an easy deadend admin job. i've read a fair bit all my life, especially when i was a student. also i'm the guy who always goes on about the unconsoled (it's so good you guys)

i've never worked within the field which is double edged because i think it's been good for my writing to have worked at different jobs.

Hi the com eng guy here. What is pretty true. Only exception is in fields where you're working with hardware or in specialist industries. But really just know your shit and put some effort into internships and applications and you'll be fine. Once you get your foot in the door at a legitimate and recognised company your degree doesn't mean shit.

Thanks :)

>I had very little time to actually commit myself to the amount of work they assigned. I was usually too exhausted to even bother showing up past grade 10.
OP here, and I feel that for sure user. I felt impatient with school and ready to work from an early age, and I slept through damn near half of high school. Factory work was a bitch.

I hope you can pay the bills with your writing dude. I feel like that's about as much as any of us can hope for. "Ethnic background" or no.

I agree. The last thing I want is to be stuck working for a fucking newspaper. I study IT/Linux/Python in my spare time, but at least I'll be able to articulate myself, which I believe is the most important part of having the degree. I firmly don't believe I'll ever have anything published, but I'll still try.

>written beautifully

My groggy-headed, wine-infused 1:30 AM semi-coherent ramblings are just that: ramblings that took me all of two minutes to write.

You'd be astounded just how hard I am on myself over what I write seriously...

25, still in med school.

19, community college fag
transferring soon

>doing something with your life
fucking sucker

I feel fairly resentful over the way the publishing industry, academia, and the literary community at large are hoisting up "diversity." I'm seeing a lot of writers being published just over the fact they're brown, while the quality in the work is rife with cliche and poor writing. It kind of fucks with my head. Am I good because I've been afforded affirmative action points? It all just reeks of patronizing bullshit... "Oh, let's not hold the brown people up to the same standards as the whites."

If I ever win any heavy literary prize in my lifetime, my dream is to just go up there, whip out my keys, jingle them in front of everyone, then induce vomiting on stage...

>ever have anything published
that gets into the talent vs work argument. i do believe talent is a thing but i also think anyone can get published if they keep writing and studying writing.

Well, it does become difficult when you're too overwhelmed with work to have enough energy/imagination to write anything worth recognition.

20, currently getting an archaeology degree.
I've read since I can remember (short kid's stories of course), and around 10-11 I got my first Verne's book. I read like 4 or 5 of them at the time and since then I've begun reading somewhat seriously. Currently starting with the Greeks and loving it, and I also found a great tool for understanding most of literature's history.

27. About 3 years away from a PhD in experimental physics. Undergrad was double in physics/electrical engineering.

Only read about 3/4 of the books in high school. Really hated a lot of the chick lit that was forced on us. Secret Life of Bees, The Poisonwood Bible, Pride and Prejudice. I feel like a chauvinist piece of shit saying that, but it's the truth. In any case it's not that I have a problem with female authors. To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the reason I love to read, and while I haven't read it since middle school, I still revere it as a perfect book for its audience.

Really dug Macbeth, Hamlet, The Stranger, All Quiet on the Western Front, and a few others. These kept the spirit of reading alive in me through high school.

Favorites: Anything by Borges, The Monkey Wrench Gang, 2666, Blood Meridian, Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry IV Pt. 1, For Whom the Bell Toll, The Master and Margarita, Anna Karenina, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Stranger, The Fall, House of Leaves, To Kill a Mockingbird.

Struggle to find time to read during my PhD studies, but if it's your favorite hobby, you can make it work. Except for my first year. I ate, drank, and breathed physics that year.

>how hard
I thought you said it was all awesome and effortless?

I got lured in with the prospect of financial security.
And the female to male ratio of 3:1.
Sadly 9/10 are total mingers.
Nor do I have time to read, you have it better.

>Pride and Prejudice
>chick-lit
Oh that's unfortunate. You were doing so well up until now.

25. Majoring in philosophy

Is grad school for phil a good move? I started college late. One year left for bachelors

Perhaps I should give it another chance as an adult, but I really fucking hated that book.

I am a sophomore in college

Currently worried that I am not smart enough to make it in grad school and will be unable to find employment after bachelor's

Not doing STEM was a mistake

oh i totally get that. after work i lie down for awhile to decompress. then i don't watch tv anymore so that i can make the time to write.

one thing that helps is i've found writing gets easier the longer you keep at it.
i've stopped watching tv/movies after work so that i'll make the time.

24/hedge fund

24, BA in Political Science and Philosophy. Currently doing this-or-that while I plan for my next career move into either finance or guberment work.

I come here to shitpost about topics I don't know, and contribute to topics I do. I then get frustrated that the topics I like have all these shitposts.

I'm much less interesting than a fringe intellectual. Instead, I usually post about what the orthodox academic opinion on a particular thinker is, or at least as was taught to me at major state school TM.

Whats your major, champ?

>do i want to be a crackpot
If you are going all in when it comes to academia
If not
No

Not the guy you responded to, but ask your professors.

What's a general picutre of your grades, intellectual interests, and longer term goals?

Would you shoot yourself if after 7 years you made around 60,000 a year and lived a normie life with more books?

its ok user I'm rooting for you to find some sort of meaning or work life balance. I knew a girl who went into premed. She was legitimately one of the worst people I have ever met. I hope you dont run into her user.

STEM REEE

but really, I hope you enjoy how your major is treating you and you're finding yourself intellectually satisfied.

Use capitalization.

Writing is the easy part...

Going back and discerning what makes a reader want to keep turning the page is the hard part.
I'd love to churn out something completely arcane... but coming from a 21 year old that looks stupid.

That sounds like a good schedule. Thanks for the advice.

For you, I will. I always found that skipping it made for a more personal touch on an image board, though.

indeed, it does seem to.

22

Grades are average since my self-discipline is poor. B,C range. But I always receive praise on my papers for my independent thought. Profs say "very promising," idk. Intellectual interest is broad. Sound like a faggot yeah but I honestly love to learn. Can't stop reading. No idea what I'm gonna do w this degree though. Advice?

I sincerely hope you get to live out that dream one day user.

25, neeted for a while now going to cc building gpa

more power to ya man, hope you can pull yerself up my guy.

25, Attempting to be a filmmaker but working at a warehouse and other odd manual labor. Bachelors in physics and math but never planned on using it just did it as a challenge

25, I dropped out of college when I realized the choice was a life of paying off debt, or having a mostly useless degree.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying learning, it's something that seems to be getting rarer every fucking year.

Anyway, grad school for phi might be a challenge if your GPA isn't on point. The current environment is bad if you're shooting for getting a tenure track position. (We're talking less than 50 percent in some cases, and that's even from some not too bad schools.)

Many programs equally weight GPA - GRE - Writing Sample - Letters of Recommendation. If your other three turn out good, the GPA is less important, especially if your departmental GPA is above your overall.

Some good pieces of advice I got from my professors include 'take a year off in the private sector and then re-assess', and 'if you can envision yourself doing anything else and being happy, do that instead'. I think its pretty sound stuff.

If you're serious about the PhD, you need to be able to say "Fuck you user, I'm going to make it" (in so many words), plus you should have an idea of what you'd do with the degree if you just cant find anything. That 'anything else' could be working for the government, since they give a flat pay increase for graduate degrees and hire right out of grad programs, to an interest in running a business or even just teaching English or civics in a public school. It really pays off to keep up some side projects that can get you in contact with other fields. Environmental philosophy is one, Biomedical Ethics is another. Stuff like that. For me, I always focused a lot on the ethics of intelligence work and intelligence collection. Because of that I have a pretty good knowledge of the IC, as well as what agencies hire, and when.

Now here's the good news, the phi degree is actually really useful at the BA level. It can get interviews and jobs, especially in research or writing intensive fields. Legal Writing is a good option right out of school, and it pays only kind of shit. From there you could proceed to paralegal and wind up making somewhat ok money. The path can take you all the way to J.D. if you want, but that's a field with its own mountain of problems. Also if you can learn excel to the point where you understand 'pivot tables' and 'v-lookups' (max 3 hours on youtube if you're not a retard), you'll be competitive for temp office work.

One final piece of advice since its fucking late: a good liberal arts education will give you the tools to accept and thrive in strange conditions. If your major did anything right at all, it should make you aware of how fucking challenging it is to find and build a meaningful career with work that makes a difference. Dont shy away from the concerns that you have, but actively revisit them now, and even when you find your first, second, and future jobs.

You'll make it if you really do love to learn.

Oh, and NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER go into debt to get a PhD in philosophy. If you can't get into a funded program, you're better off either looking for another field that interests you, or pursuing ways to engage with the field that don't involve paying that much. (Like attending conferences that are open to the public at your undergrad uni and keeping in touch with professors)

Neat stuff

I will consider everything you've said user; thank you for your time

No problem, best of luck.

Is it true all philosophy majors love("admire") cats?

20 M Aus. Student paramedic.
Not intellectual.
Never praised by teachers, never excelled in English.
Favourite author is Terry Pratchett.

Philosophy and Japanese language. I directly blame Veeky Forums and /a/ for this.

Anyways, I guess I can get a teaching job out of school, yes? But looking past that I'm not sure what options I have besides perhaps pursuing an MA or something. Even then I wouldn't know what my end game would be. Going to grad school in Japan sounds really nice but I am clueless as to how I would go about that. Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead or too unrealistically.

If I could teach forever I probably would. I just hate worrying about my future and sort of wish I stayed in Engineering program, even though I probably wasn't smart enough for that

I'd appreciate any words which might alleviate my anxiety. Thank you

25. Working as a Cybersecurity engineer.
Studying Psychology in university since last year. I see myself working as a therapist in the long-term.

35, married w children. Spain. PhD International Relations.
Currently working as a translator.
Studying full stack web developement because I hate academia

25, MSc Mathematics, management consulting

27
work as editor at news website
in grad school for statistics

18, majoring in economics and english at a Veeky Forums liberal arts college next year

>PhD
>I hate academia

I get told by a lot of people im smart.
I have talked to a few people who have their own company and have a few million in their bank, one may be giving me a job for my practical semester.
I have doubts if i truely am smart, but often enough i notice people being intimidated by me. I mistake it for not liking me.
People listen to my advice, i have less and less interest in drinking. I read slow, still i feel like i get a lot more out of what i read than others.
I started working out and like my progression. It helps me focus and be more happy. I play to much pc games.
I'm not sure if i love my gf.
I'm 21 years old. I project to much and do wish to know more than others.

>Is it true all philosophy majors love cats?
>independent, smart, surrounded an aura of mystery and sophistication
>does nothing but sleep, eat, shit and lick own balls all day long
Surprisingly true description of philosophy majors.

26yo neet

Sneaky of you.

You sound like a confused teenager, famalam.

I guess you've got a point, i'm still figuring stuff out.

hehe same

What kind of education did you get to become a professional NEET? How hard were the interviews? What's the pay like?

29, a decade ago I went to university for engineering before becoming hugely against the whole of science.
Now I'm one of like 5 people studying philosophy and religion at a liberal arts school.

I'm back in university because nothing I've had published has sold more than a handful of copies.

My new focus is Christianity as a convergence of various mythologies, and why that doesn't subtract from the credibility of Christianity (as fedoramen claim.)

I'm married to a girl in her last year of high school and have been with her for a while.

That sounds creepy, not gonna lie.

g4u

>I'm married to a girl in her last year of high school

It's not going to last user.

18, tho I mostly just lurk because I feel like my opinion isn't informed enough yet to add any value to the discussion.

24

Finishing up my double major in Accounting/Computer Information Systems trying to get 150 credits to take CPA exam. Going to go work for Mr. Shekelstein

It's lasted for four years.