4 ms·

How about feeling idle with nothing to do but consider your own mortality? Not many people enjoy that, and Pascal wrote an interesting paper about it: http://s

How about feeling idle with nothing to do but consider your own mortality? Not many people enjoy that, and Pascal wrote an interesting paper about it: http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/pascal-diversion.html http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/pascal-diversion.html Personally, my main takeaway can be summarized by this passage: >And those who philosophise on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase, which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.

EGreg 7y ago
What if you realize that distracting yourself from major things is foolish and your thoughts return to the topic every few hours a day? Have you figured anything out? Perhaps this can give you some practice every day: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1
gerbilly 7y ago
> The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities The irony is not lost on me that the man in this anecdote is bringing untimely death to the hare, to distract himself from his own. Death probably feels just like you felt before you were born. Why not celebrate that there is anything to experience at all? It seems so improbable.
- leggomylibro 7y ago
  Haha, yeah. But hunting is just one of the examples that Pascal uses because of the times, along with gambling and war. Metaphorically, that passion project or artistic pursuit that you can't quite explain a practical use for is more or less the same idea.
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bigred100 7y ago
Some folks in fact think you should do that quite a bit. For example, this guy wrote quite a well-regarded (in his community) book about it: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1696-1787,_De_Ligorio_Alphonsus,_Preparation_For_Death_Part_1,_EN.pdf http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1696-1787,_De_Ligo...

EGreg 7y ago

What if you realize that distracting yourself from major things is foolish and your thoughts return to the topic every few hours a day? Have you figured anything out? Perhaps this can give you some practice every day: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1

gerbilly 7y ago

> The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities The irony is not lost on me that the man in this anecdote is bringing untimely death to the hare, to distract himself from his own. Death probably feels just like you felt before you were born. Why not celebrate that there is anything to experience at all? It seems so improbable.

leggomylibro 7y ago
Haha, yeah. But hunting is just one of the examples that Pascal uses because of the times, along with gambling and war. Metaphorically, that passion project or artistic pursuit that you can't quite explain a practical use for is more or less the same idea.

deleted 7y ago

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bigred100 7y ago

Some folks in fact think you should do that quite a bit. For example, this guy wrote quite a well-regarded (in his community) book about it: http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1696-1787,_De_Ligorio_Alphonsus,_Preparation_For_Death_Part_1,_EN.pdf http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/1696-1787,_De_Ligo...