I have finally read Edward Teach's Sadly, Porn, and like, I dunno, I can’t really sum it up entirely it’s a remarkable book and I was going to say something intelligent about it but it is impossible so I am going to try. This isn't a book review, think of it more like a book experience/trip report. If I enjoy this sufficiently, I might write some more about it and expand some of these ideas fully -- but no promises!

First off: Scott Alexander is entirely wrong about this book (what's new?). He couldn’t understand it because he had to defend himself from it so hard he couldn't even deal with the second-person diatribes.

I have written in my notes at the time:

Sadly, Porn, is the apex of post-modern literature — not only do the words defy being neatly read, but the very ideas leap out and strike you over the head again and again.

It’s a total masterwork, easily one of the greatest of our age. And it’s also such deeply and totally aggravating wank that will mess you up for weeks, worse arguably than beloved Infinite Jest even (which is also incredible but definitely mildly info-hazardous, maybe less so if you don’t binge it in two weeks like I did). I think this book put me in a (somewhat depressive) funk for at least a month after I read it. I would just like, stare into space and think "What was Teach trying to get me to do!?" and not have an answer. Honestly it was like a withdrawal, I just wanted MORE, more insane world-view destroying diversions into Greek pseudo-history! More bonkers statements that wack you upside the head like a wet fish but are unabashedly capital-T True! More brilliant insight and blinding idiocy!

Since I already read Scotty's review, I knew at least a bit of what I was getting myself into. I had been thinking about reading this book for literally years but it took quite a while to take the plunge. When I did, I was ready: I wasn't going to just psychological defense my way through this thing but I was at a point where I honestly was interested in doing some work, making a change. So I read this attempting to really get in the pig-pen with it and take it seriously, at least within its' own universe of logic. Since we know Teach doesn't care, there's no reason to worry about the sources-as-quoted-in-the-book's relationship with the sources-as-you-might-find-if-you-look-up-the-title: rather you just have to allow them to separate in your mind, like an alternate universe. (It doesn't matter if the conclusion is good after all, right?) Saying the sources are bogus is a neat defense, but really, if it bothers you think of it as a nice historical-fiction flavored fudge stripe.

Teach has this way of building up these complex vibe-ideas piece by piece in your mind without ever saying them with words so that by the end you 100% get the vibe but honestly could not articulate it and realize that the conclusion was never on the page at all! (From my notes “Absolute magic, such a high grade anti-meme!”). However this also makes it remarkably hard to regurgitate in casual conversation or even remember what you learned/read in your own mind.

Here are my biggest take anyways, at least for now. Again, I'd love to expand on each of these because there is so much to say, but this is the gist. And making it this plain makes it too easy to ignore/defend against so it probably won't look like much.

• Knowledge is a psychological defence of the impotent, i.e. people who have no power try to gather knowledge/appear knowledgable to obscure their total lack of power. Teach seems to think that to be powerful you must act without bothering with knowledge, only belief (seem familiar?)

• Independence is a defence against being dependent, i.e. people worship their independence, putting it above everything else, because they are terrified of confronting their own real dependence or becoming dependent on anyone more. I think he is largely attacking the "loser Millennials" for most of the book and this is one of his biggest beefs with them specifically.

• People gain satisfaction from depriving others from their satisfaction; this is (according to Teach) why basically everything unpleasant happens in society/relationships/whatever. Teach seems to think this is a bad thing, but also that it is an innate thing. Porn is "useful" because it lets you gain satisfaction while depriving literally everyone else from the satisfaction of you.

• People have stopped believing in love (or anything really) and so they seek out a replacement that doesn't require belief, i.e. porn.

• The gender responsible for believing in/acting about love in a relationship shifts over time in a cycle (perhaps one of Sam's vibe rotors). In the last 200-ish years it has gone from men to women to nobody, and is shifting back again very slowly. There seems to be a peak where everyone knows what is going on followed by chaos as nobody knows what is going on, and a real bottom point where nobody believes (you are here). Teach says that in the low points of lack of belief, the gays are the reservoirs of true love belief to which the straights look/depend on to keep the love narrative alive. Teach seems to think nobody will buy this point, but it seems pretty legit to me, insane as it may be (if I'm the crazy one that's no news).

• Oedipus is totally real and we say it isn’t to defend against the fact that we’ve bungled that massively (the Millennials again lol).

  This was 110% calling me out, and I have been thinking about it a lot. I've been analyzing like, everything from this perspective and its insane how often everything lines up. For instance, I've lately been watching Futurama and it is really fascinating from this perspective, this is worth another post but basically the characters play different roles in the Oedipus framework depending on the episode and it drives like 99% of the show when it is good (when it is not good which is often, frequently it is because this aspect is out-of-balance). But like you have to wonder: was this intentional, or am I seeing ghosts? Or is it an accident caused by trying to make real characters? It’s really clever how it works though because its so subtle you’d never notice. Once you see Oedipus you can’t un-see it and Teach believes in Oedipus lol. Teach basically uses Oedipus through the whole thing to illustrate these other points.

• Also there's a really great point about tyranny and wanting to be lead because it means we don't have to be responsible for choices or wield the power etc. but that's a whole post unto itself.

Honestly a really incredible book, definitely for mature audiences because he withholds nothing and no I didn’t read the 30 page cuck fiction at the beginning, that’s nasty and also it’s just there (he says so!) to keep out the people who shouldn’t be reading this. This book needs to keep out the unprepared, because if you're not ready I doubt you'd be able to make any sense of it at all. And I think it’s pretty effective, I feel like it kept me out until I needed to read it. He’s definitely not writing for everyone, just a very very specific sort of someone. Sometimes someone like me honestly, but not always there are some sections that seem pretty squarely targeted towards the loser-Millennial camp. Although heck maybe that’s a defense, if anything this book will have you analyzing all of your thoughts going wait is that a defense?!

One of the things I feel like this book lacked, but perhaps intentionally, is some kind of call to action. What are we supposed to DO about it? Admittedly Teach seems like he has given up trying to find one, like our situation is effectively immutable, fated. And he says himself that he does not want to be followed, but then what is his goal? He says we want to be lead, so perhaps he is withholding his leadership because it satisfies him to deprive us of it? Why did Teach bother writing this book, other to antagonize and insult his readers by exposing their impotence? I do think if there was a call-to-action, it would be this:

Stop fooling around trying to know things, and start Believing in them instead (i.e. have real fantasies instead of the cuckoo fantasies that have invaded the nest of your mind via images i.e. the Spectacle), so that you can act on your desires instead of watching someone else do it (i.e. in porn).

Action is all you need! And if you don't really desire it, stop acting like you do.