Why Nerds Gatekeep Books

[@WriteConscious]

If you want to REP some fire literature streetwear and support the channel click below! writeconscious.com/

[@Josh-et4ki]

I tried to buy a shirt but it says my address can't be shipped to. I live in the western continental USA

[@WriteConscious]

Really? That's crazy. What shirt? Send me an email and I can help you. Just tested with multiple addresses and it's working for me. [e-mail] -

[@MusicMissionary]

I usually take it as a dare when someone says a book is hard to read. Still afraid to read Ulysses though...

[@ohioskane363]

I didn't read it until last year (age 65). Totally worth it!!

[@jwalk2287]

Ulysses is fun, just don’t expect to understand everything. Go for it!

[@easyskankingdude]

gatekeeping is for people with low self-esteem.

[@jwalk2287]

Read whatever you want, folks. But please learn the difference between great literature and mediocrity. For example: Emily Dickinson is great, Taylor Swift is trash. Or: James Joyce is great, James Patterson is trash. The only books/poems we should be gatekeeping are the mediocre ones that are popular. Widespread mediocrity is what hurts literature.

[@themomentcollector5402]

There is no great without the mediocre my brother.

[@jwalk2287]

@@themomentcollector5402I see what you mean, but we can definitely live in a world where Emily Dickinson is read and Taylor Swift is ignored. I don’t see what’s so bad about that or impossible about it.

[@themomentcollector5402]

@@jwalk2287 in my opinion, we can't. The average experience is less intense. It requires less effort and energy to live in a world where Taylor Swift is popular and her messages and art consumed. To understand that Emily Dickinson has artistic merit, you need to go beyond the average experience. That by definition is less probable. You will have as per distribution laws, a lot of mediocre expression of human experience, some below that, and some above, with the exceptional and horrendous ones being very few on each side. Systems and humans tend to favor the least amount of energy states. That's my theory at least. This unfolds throughout human endeavours and experiences. You can't appreciate Dickinson or similar without being exposed to a lot of average and bad. If most were exceptional, very few would, if that makes any sense.

[@jwalk2287]

@@themomentcollector5402I understand your point and appreciate it. I just don’t think we need or have to experience bad art to appreciate great art. Mass mediocrity doesn’t lead to great art, and great art doesn’t need mass mediocrity. We can appreciate Dickinson without being exposed to Taylor Swift.

[@NJGuy1973]

​@@jwalk2287Emily Dickinson wrote 1,800 poems but only 10 were published when she was alive. For all we know, as I type these words, some 30-year-old woman is working in a Walmart and writing in her journal, and in the year 2174 that woman will have college classes studying her journals and no one alive will remember Taylor Swift.

[@markuswierschem2576]

Some thoughts: I'm not sure I've been guilty of "gatekeeping" in the strictest sense, but I've certainly withheld from sharing certain bands, books, artists with people I thought unfit, nay, unworthy, of them. That is, I have been guilty of consciously excluding rather than sharing what I consider truly great with others. I think in part, that feeling stems from a wish to protect that which is dear to you from the vulgar eyes, ears, and thoughts of those that may not be able to understand and appreciate them in the way that you do, in the way that they "should" be appreciated. In part, it may stem from enjoying being part of a smaller group of elect few, those who "are in" on the wonderful secret you share in by knowing and understanding that artist and his art. That's also why I've always preferred concerts in smaller venues (up to a 1000) to larger events. In big arenas, you're radically exposed to a loss of intimacy. You experience a negation of the internalized elitism that stems from feeling like you're one of a select who are all aligned, because they have to be, vs. a larger group that is there basically because something has become "popular". As with the mechanical reproduction of the singular piece of art that Walter Benjamin speaks of, the piece of art somehow looses its divine aura when that aura is dispersed to shine on multitudes. Another way of seeing this may be in more mercantile terms: When everyone is able to "own" something, that entails that everyone can afford it. It loses its exclusivity. Similarly, if everyone purports to appreciate the art of artist xyz, that somehow seems to signal that that art cannot be as special, wondrous, complex, true, raw, powerful as you thought. Or else, and this may be more troubling: that you were not special for being able to see what so few others could. ;-) And then, one day, you find you're becoming the guy who has always been "punk/prog/metal" even when it was unpopular. You've become a cliché.

[@toddjacksonpoetry]

I know those portables well. Another month left of summer, getting things together for whatever the new semester brings.

[@R.L.Kramer]

I appreciate what you’re doing and inspired by it. Your volume of production is impressive. I want to stop taking weeks to make one vide/ Apologies for being a weirdo in the comments. I forget we’re all real people sometimes and until my second book sells up my first book I renovate bathrooms and your videos accompany my renovating.

[@R.L.Kramer]

#mainsleeperenergy

[@KramersRemarks]

Great message on how logic can only take us so far and how empathy is a much more potent tool to wield. It’s a shame that most people take up the mantel of power over empathy. Subscribing 😃

[@theironkaat]

Picking up infinite jest again! Love your videos!

[@WriteConscious]

Good luck! Don't quit even when you're reading about yrstrly lmao

[@wizcatcheslightning]

Wish I could impromptu speak like you. We are the same age. Unfortunately I have to write scripts before making videos. But hey, that’s why we’re here. Excellent vid

[@biancastephanie8830]

19:42 not you reminding me of my ex who would rant about this 😂. This channel is a gem! I’m having a great time.

[@WriteConscious]

lol

[@seanmalczewski1998]

Hey man! The philosopher Charles Taylor just came out with a book im super excited to read called "Cosmic Connections: Poetry in an Age of Disenchantment." Thought it might be up your alley!

[@personanongrata987]

What is literary gatekeeping? --

[@willwhitman717]

The thumbnail for this video is one of the funniest yet.

[@HDoug412]

You do great work and the channel is awesome. Thank you for helping to rekindle my love for literature and McCarthy

[@NJGuy1973]

What's stopping anyone from going to the library and checking out what they want?

[@LenkaSaratoga]

Primarily, intelligence level. Same thing that made you choose this content over TickTock.

[@NJGuy1973]

@@LenkaSaratoga No, it's laziness.

[@LenkaSaratoga]

@@NJGuy1973 let me ask you a question….. pretty safe to assume that you have not done it, because only one percent of population are marathoners…….so…….here it goes……… what’s stopping you from running marathon?

[@NJGuy1973]

@@LenkaSaratogaYou're comparing the effort involved in going to a library with the effort involved in running 26 miles. Wow. And I thought I knew what false equivalency was. Until now.

[@LenkaSaratoga]

@@NJGuy1973 I am a distance runner. For many of my people running for few hours at a comfortable pace is by far easier than reading what is discussed on this channel. The point that I make and you miss, endurance and comprehension both are choices that we make in accordance with our natural proclivities. Most people are simply not drawn there. You go to the library because you choose to read, and I go on trail because I choose to run. Some choose both. Most choose neither. Millions of people enjoy playing computer games. Is that laziness?

[@diemes5463]

WC - "Be empathetic" also WC - 17:35

[@RichardRhubarb]

Lots of ivory tower denizens in this comment section

[@khadimndiaye7730]

Do you think it’s necessary to read secondary literature to e.g. McCarthy? I feel a book shall speak out of itself, or not?

[@PBT_THE_GOAT]

No I did 😢

[@WriteConscious]

lmao

[@AERallert]

Gatekeeping is essential. No intellectualism is restored by standing by the road and signal "Hey! Anyone, come - read!" This is how you welcome in the idiots who will stay idiots, and devalue all the things you let them around.

[@WriteConscious]

Check out the latter half of the video where I discuss your viewpoint!

[@TheRealChrisLopez]

If the value you assign to something is based purely on the opinions of those you put on a pedestal rather than its own inherent quality maybe you need to reevaluate your understanding of what is valuable because it seems you have no internal frame of reference to evaluate what is good and are deferring your opinions to the other which is why you fear the other being devalued by the mob. Quit being a follower and think for yourself and help others do the same so the entire plane can be elevated.

[@anuragpradhan7500]

Yeah no. Gatekeeping, to some extent, is necessary. It helps prevents a small but vocal minority from infiltrating and changing the entire ethos of some hobby, including reading (Booktok, need I say more?). If the Souls community didn't have their "git gud" mantra for every idiot saying the games are too hard, Elden Ring would have been a melee far cry. And that would have destroyed the reason those games exist. A fandom that doesn't gatekeep, is like a country that allows foreigners to vote in their elections. The only thing to discuss is how strict the gate keeping should be.

[@MrJamesLRose]

Hi Ian, where can I get the shirt you’re wearing? Love it man

[@WriteConscious]

writeconscious.com/

[@MrJamesLRose]

@@WriteConscious thanks friend

[@segaboy9894]

I love the personal growth here, but you should consider this; saying you were ahead of the cultural zeitgeist with free skiing and Brazillian Jiujitsu is a status signal.

[@WriteConscious]

Lol, it's called an example. You were ahead of the curve with certain bands, ways of thinking and plenty of other things. It's okay to mention.

[@segaboy9894]

@@WriteConscious Absoultely! I was a gatekeeper for Frank Zappa and Linux! :) I hope I didn't offend you - I love the channel.

[@user-ys7kt7dd3o]

Are you a pool player or just like shooting around?

[@WriteConscious]

I grew up with a pool table and played everyday and did competitions occasionally with my dad. However, this is my parent's house (on vacation) and I don't play as much as I used to. But, I think I graduated from a novice who just shoots around!

[@user-ys7kt7dd3o]

nice! Looks like a nice setup. I’m a big pool fan myself so I couldn’t help but notice. I love the videos as well. I’m fairly new to the channel but really enjoy to content and discussions. I’ve been really trying to get back into reading this summer and your channel keeps the inspiration to read alive for me as I enjoy the deep dives on the authors you talk about.

[@ypaisley]

If they’re not calling you a grifter, then you’re doing it wrong!

[@WriteConscious]

Lmao, thank you brotha. Let's go!

[@sobrefingerskate]

😢🎉

[@suleonid]

yeah baby. saw it first