6 ms·

What Our Diversions Reveal about Us (1670)

83 points by erwan 8y ago

erwan 8y ago
143. Diversion.--Men are entrusted from infancy with the care of their honour, their property, their friends, and even with the property and the honour of their friends. They are overwhelmed with business, with the study of languages, and with physical exercise; and they are made to understand that they cannot be happy unless their health, their honour, their fortune and that of their friends be in good condition, and that a single thing wanting will make them unhappy. Thus they are given cares and business which make them bustle about from break of day. It is, you will exclaim, a strange way to make them happy! What more could be done to make them miserable? --Indeed! what could be done? We should only have to relieve them from all these cares; for then they would see themselves: they would reflect on what they are, whence they came, whither they go, and thus we cannot employ and divert them too much. And this is why, after having given them so much business, we advise them, if they have some time for relaxation, to employ it in amusement, in play, and to be always fully occupied.
- DoctorOetker 8y ago
  that's an excellent quote, and reminds me of what I wrote at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936282 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936282 (just ignore the first sentence/movie reference) Edit: woops!
  - sp332 8y ago
    You seem to have linked your entire account instead of a particular comment.
    - DoctorOetker 8y ago
      thanks for pointing it out
- phkahler 8y ago
  Perhaps evolution has provided this mental state. Self, family, clan, tribe. Promote these things relentlessly or you will go extinct. There is always something you can do, so idleness is to be disdained. Indeed, much like apoptosis at the cellular level in response to defect, one in deep social isolation and despair for lack of purpose may even withdraw from the game of life entirely. Evolution at work.
analreceiver 8y ago
He would've loved Buddhism
rajangdavis 8y ago
Very relevant to something I am experiencing now. Thanks for sharing
draw_down 8y ago
> To bid a man live quietly is to bid him live happily. It is to advise him to be in a state perfectly happy, in which he can think at leisure without finding therein a cause of distress. This is to misunderstand nature. If there is anything I'm suspicious of, it's claims of "nature" as regards people, our feelings, and our habits. And of course, even supposing the above is correct regarding our nature, there are plenty of situations in which we are not content to simply accept our nature as it is. I think it's worth learning how to be happy living a quiet life. Reading about taoism helped me with this but I'm sure there are plenty of other routes. The reason I think it's worthwhile is pretty much the flip side of what Pascal is saying here- most of the pursuits we engage in are just diversions, at their core there really isn't much to them. Recognizing that can help one enjoy them (somewhat paradoxically), but also help ease the sense that one should be "doing something", accomplishing, raising status, etc.
yesenadam 8y ago
Oh, it's a selection from Pascal's Pensées, for some reason not labelled such.
- erwan 8y ago
  It's on the second line. The title is the name of the fragment.
  - yesenadam 8y ago
    Yes, obviously I had to go to the site to learn that. I meant, there was no indication on HN. I guess I commented because I was disappointed - I read a lot of stuff from the 16th-19th C, and hadn't heard the title before, so I expected something 'new'. It's not a fragment, it's someone's selection from Pascal's book, one of the most famous books of aphorisms, if not the most famous. It's not Pascal's title.
    - erwan 8y ago
      Ah I see what you mean

83 points by erwan 8y ago

143. Diversion.--Men are entrusted from infancy with the care of their honour, their property, their friends, and even with the property and the honour of their friends. They are overwhelmed with business, with the study of languages, and with physical exercise; and they are made to understand that they cannot be happy unless their health, their honour, their fortune and that of their friends be in good condition, and that a single thing wanting will make them unhappy. Thus they are given cares and business which make them bustle about from break of day. It is, you will exclaim, a strange way to make them happy! What more could be done to make them miserable? --Indeed! what could be done? We should only have to relieve them from all these cares; for then they would see themselves: they would reflect on what they are, whence they came, whither they go, and thus we cannot employ and divert them too much. And this is why, after having given them so much business, we advise them, if they have some time for relaxation, to employ it in amusement, in play, and to be always fully occupied.

DoctorOetker 8y ago
that's an excellent quote, and reminds me of what I wrote at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936282 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17936282 (just ignore the first sentence/movie reference) Edit: woops!
- sp332 8y ago
  You seem to have linked your entire account instead of a particular comment.
  - DoctorOetker 8y ago
    thanks for pointing it out
phkahler 8y ago
Perhaps evolution has provided this mental state. Self, family, clan, tribe. Promote these things relentlessly or you will go extinct. There is always something you can do, so idleness is to be disdained. Indeed, much like apoptosis at the cellular level in response to defect, one in deep social isolation and despair for lack of purpose may even withdraw from the game of life entirely. Evolution at work.

analreceiver 8y ago

He would've loved Buddhism

rajangdavis 8y ago

Very relevant to something I am experiencing now. Thanks for sharing

draw_down 8y ago

> To bid a man live quietly is to bid him live happily. It is to advise him to be in a state perfectly happy, in which he can think at leisure without finding therein a cause of distress. This is to misunderstand nature. If there is anything I'm suspicious of, it's claims of "nature" as regards people, our feelings, and our habits. And of course, even supposing the above is correct regarding our nature, there are plenty of situations in which we are not content to simply accept our nature as it is. I think it's worth learning how to be happy living a quiet life. Reading about taoism helped me with this but I'm sure there are plenty of other routes. The reason I think it's worthwhile is pretty much the flip side of what Pascal is saying here- most of the pursuits we engage in are just diversions, at their core there really isn't much to them. Recognizing that can help one enjoy them (somewhat paradoxically), but also help ease the sense that one should be "doing something", accomplishing, raising status, etc.

yesenadam 8y ago

Oh, it's a selection from Pascal's Pensées, for some reason not labelled such.

erwan 8y ago
It's on the second line. The title is the name of the fragment.
- yesenadam 8y ago
  Yes, obviously I had to go to the site to learn that. I meant, there was no indication on HN. I guess I commented because I was disappointed - I read a lot of stuff from the 16th-19th C, and hadn't heard the title before, so I expected something 'new'. It's not a fragment, it's someone's selection from Pascal's book, one of the most famous books of aphorisms, if not the most famous. It's not Pascal's title.
  - erwan 8y ago
    Ah I see what you mean