I read books to distract myself and to have fun

I read books to distract myself and to have fun.
I don't think the majority here does this.
Why do you read books?

Reading is actually the only activity during which I'm not distracted desu

To gain ultimate knowledge, duh.

Fiction: For beautiful prose, plot, and for interesting poetic structures and schemes.

TV and movies are boring, predictable and intellectually shallow.
I read for fun, interest in the past and to understand different ideas.

So people don't think I'm a pleb

Entertainment sometimes, exercise other times and knowledge.

To have images of occurences in settings insinuated vividly to me for the purpose of suggesting an opinion or moral belief on a subject through symbolic undertones

does it ever bother you that it's all derivative

Because I find it slightly less futile than most other things, wrongly, of course.

Escapism. It makes me feel a better person when really I'm pissing life down the drain.

I was curious to see what's regarded as high culture and to see if it really is something special about the classics which differentiate them from other type of entertainment. After having read Sidhartha, The Trial, half of brothers karamazov, 1984 and The Stranger, I can confidently say that there's isn't anything particularly special about these books. Sidhartha had some nice prose and there's some interesting ideas in some of them but I honestly enjoyed reading the Da Vinci code more than all of these classics, even though I would never admit to it publicly.

Now a days I just read 'literature' to appear smart and have something to call a hobby, something to put on under 'my interests' on dating websites that's not video games, I guess.

This both sickens and saddens me.

I read books to distract my brain from constantly playing the By Mennen jingle.

Escapism and Entertainment

Plus, I've found that no one really bothers you when you're reading a book.

Which suits me nicely.

I mostly read non-fiction for research purposes. I then turn my research into historical novels. Sometimes, but not often, I pick up a short novel or novella and read it for fun.

Power

to pass time.
so.ive ended up with 2k books read so far

to unleash libido.
i think reading is a kind of festival(*≧∀≦*)

...

I read to learn more about stuff.

To think and write creatively, even on casual occasions like a Facebook conversation.
I separate writers in three categories :

Those who compel me to write (mostly poets) or think by myself (a few philosophers and some other scholarly authors).

Those who give me general inspiration or just make my time reading them more enjoyable and interesting. This includes nonliterary writers like some sf or horror.

Those I hate for any reason, like Proust, hating him even more that he's in every modern literature programme and I had to give up because I physically reject his prose. I had to take philosophy instead because at least Proust doesn't belong there (guess what : all the 20th century French philosophers refer to him as a cornerstone) although apart from some authors philosophy bores me to death.

>tfw my brain is damaged or something and I could never do even the most basic mathematics

because of this disability, all of my intellectual curiosity has been focused on the literary and historical. I still can't do common core 9th grade Geometry while I can read large collections of classics and my favorite selection of literature in a relatively short amount of time.

you should try and improve your maths, you know that dont you?

I have tried. I have such a vitriolic and emotional reaction upon even seeing a mathematical equation. Maybe because it exposes how unintelligent I really am and damages at my ego.

Depends on what shows and movies you watch, user, but for the most part, reading is more enjoyable. Movies are a much more passive experience though. I like to throw one on when I'm too physically exhausted (i.e. from my crappy job) to concentrate on reading.

Dude, I relate to this on a spiritual level. I can do math if I study and apply myself, as I'm sure you can too, but history/reading/writing feels much more natural to me.

Yeah that's probably true, I haven't really give "film" a thorough investigation.
I watch tv when I'm burnt out too, but mostly cartoons. They have a humor you don't really find in books.

to appear smart in front of hot girls that i bang weekly :^)

i read books for fun

thats all literature is for

even joyce wrote ulysses to entertain people and make them laugh; creative writing is a joyous enterprise, its not supposed to be drudgery

if what youre reading isnt entertaining you, it means you have a poor understanding of your own taste

I disagree. If he can't do it, he can't do it. I think people should improve their strengths and disregard their natural weaknesses (unless they are vital skills like communication). You don't have to know how to do math in everyday life. Hell, I'm an engineer and almost never use math.

I read to learn more about history, theology, war, etc and be direct about learning as opposed to going to college for learning.

I read books to learn I guess

More accurately to change myself

When I am unsatisfied with myself I feel the urge to read
When I am satisfied I could take it or leave it 2bh

>take all AP classes and excel in them all
>fail basic standard math classes and get held back because of it

I am sure it is 80% psychological at this point, I start getting the fucking shakes if I see math.

being bad with math means bad eith logic means bad with patterns means he could get more out of reading if he practiced his math

I'm the same. I was always really good at logic and other stuff, but math man... My father gave me problems to solve on weekends and I'd do maybe one or two and cry that i can't do it anymore. Literally. I didn't cry for a lot of things, but math was on top of the list of stuff I cried because of as a kid. It was the hardest thing to do in my life. I don't know why, but I can't do math for more than 30 minutes. I start shaking. I'm still failing somehow, I made it through highschool math barely with minimum amount of work and got let throught because of the competitions in logic that i was good at. The problems scare me. I can listen to lectures and understand everything, but when it comes to solving problems I can't do shit. I can study history for 6 hours straight, but can barely solve an equation. When I try to study math I always end up procrastinating. And if I manage to solve some equations I make horrible mistakes like 1+1=3. The problem is, in my field of interest you barely need math, but it's there. in the first year and I'm so scared I'm not going to make it. Again. I like statistics and logical/matemathical problems, but as much as I don't mind any other practice, I hate math practice. The best torture for me would be to be forced to solve equations and stuff. I'd rather get whipped with a stick on the dick than to do math. What do? I got this far, if I do this, I'm done with math forever? How do I convince myself to do it?

Im the poster you replied too, and I had the same experience when I was a kid. I wanted to cry when I was forced to do math problems, and my academic life was repeatedly fucked up (despite excelling in most other subjects) because I could not do bab tier mathematics.

Im thinking about going autodidact mode and trying to teach myself math from the beginning during a summer or something, this thread caught my interest.

You are not good at maths, lol. Time to start learning it from the ground up again.

Most math in school is literally just remembering rules and then apply them. How hard can it be? Watch the example and then just parrot it for some problems and it should stick.

Unironically to find any idea making life worth living.
Jung is pretty good for that (I read him before Peterson became famemeous)