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Except that mountain biking, reddit, and tv are never up to the task of presenting secular solutions to the quandaries of the soul. Mountain biking, unlike reddit or tv, might provide a sense of purpose or fulfillment, but all of them are inadequate to the task of formalizing the nature of the human condition. Not all writing participates in the formalization and the resolution of our foremost concerns, but the best does.

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Most of the thought-provoking ideas, arguments, and "formalizations of the nature of the human condition" I've encountered in my life have come from movies, TV, or forum posts. Books are great, but let's not pretend they're somehow objectively superior to other media. It's all a matter of preference -- some people find books and reading to be the best source of wisdom for them, and others (like me) find other media to be much better. It varies from person to person because art is definitionally subjective.

Movies, TV, and forum posts are simply not old enough to enjoy the same legacy of robustly elucidated gnosis as do books. Books are objectively superior in that respect, although they are perhaps not absolutely superior, as other media could develop a similar capacity to articulate notions specific to the soul of man. I agree with you about wisdom, as wisdom is as wisdom does, and wisdom is different life to life, but knowing is an altogether distinct matter. It is naive to pretend there are no differences, not least because the mediums select for different persons.

And why exactly are they inadequate? Can you explain this beyond just saying it is?

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