5 ms·

Sorry for the morbid take, but the reason why we cannot sit quietly alone is to distract ourselves from our eventual demise.

goldenkey 6y ago
And more fundamentally, the fact that we aren't essential pieces of the universe in our human forms (we are as energy.) Because if we were, wouldn't we be immortal? ;-)
camjohnson26 6y ago
Distraction from mortality is actually a recurring point of discussion in Pascal’s writing. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”
- DangitBobby 6y ago
  On this face of it and without reading any of the other writings, this just sounds totally meaningless to me. Is the belief that true meaning or purpose in life can come only from within? What about your own thoughts are so sacred that everything else should be considered a distraction from them?
  - polishdude20 6y ago
    To add onto this, what do you think you're doing when you're not in a room all alone with your thoughts? You're still thinking. It's not like I can't watch a YouTube video and think to myself at the same time. I think the aversion I have to being alone with my thoughts is the feeling that doing that won't help me. It's sort of like a neural network that I'd alone with its weights with no inputs to process except itself. I feel when I think to myself alone, I can't make any decisions because what I know is already what I knew before I started thinking to myself. Yo make decisions, I need external answers to questions. I need new information and evidence to start me to some conclusion.
- saalaa 6y ago
  In my opinion it's in fact the main point but I think this is partially lost in translation, divertissement meaning more than just distraction.
giantDinosaur 6y ago
For me it's definitely more that I have a smartphone which facilitates easy access to a socially accepted addiction - sitting alone might make me passingly think about some eventual demise but it certainly doesn't dominate my thinking. Wasn't this the basis of Terror Management theory ? I'm not sure that ever had much evidence for it, other than in some extremely general sense.
tertius 6y ago
Get over it.
rosywoozlechan 6y ago
While still of course afraid of actually dying, instead of being perennial fearful of death I am instead now grateful for being alive this day. Try that change in perspective. Background anxiety about our "eventual demise" is the consequence of false entitlement to life and health. Young and healthy people imagine good life without end, the dying and people who've lost health and ability often know better. This change in perspective also helps you make the most out of each day, because those who make a point to remember that their good days are finite will not want to have spent them in waste.
- SyzygistSix 6y ago
  >will not want to have spent them in waste. And will at least think about what this means.
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Which is just depression. I don't think about dying, unless its the topic of conversation or whatever. I think about living. There's no real point in dwelling on the other.
- guytv 6y ago
  I think there's a lot of merit on dwelling on death. Death can put your current life in laser like focus and perspective. Is what you're doing now really important? Is that what you want to do if you only had 1 year to live? Are you spending enough time on the things that are really important to you? All of these questions became clearer to me once I started realising and contemplating death regularly.
  - majewsky 6y ago
    I appreciate what you're saying, but on the other hand, I wouldn't want to live in a world where everyone lived as if they had only one year to live. Most institutions are already waaaay too focused on short term profits.
    - ronyfadel 6y ago
      To me, guytv’s perspectice is eye opening: live “as if” you only have one more year to live, with a hint that there’s probably more years to come. It makes me feel like I need to be kind no matter what, not waste time (or at least, not tell myself that I’m wasting my time too many days in a row).
  - zajio1am 6y ago
    You do not need death, just discount rate preferring near experience to far. Thinking about what if you only had 1 year to live just encourages short-term gains to long-term ones.
MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
Death is only scary if you believe in hell.
Aeolun 6y ago
Certainly true for me. It’s still one of the most valuable things to contemplate though. At least, I’m still expecting to someday figure out why mortality isn’t a problem after all (or not mortality in the first place).
michalf6 6y ago
For me it worked to stop identifying "me" with the physical person or my consciousness, instead to identify with my hereditary line - as if I'm only a carrier for information that gets passed on. My reasoning being - natural selection is the only game I can't not play, so it gives me a fundamental goal in life to do well at it. Also helps with avoiding hedonism / addictions. When I successfully reproduce, I will stop fearing death.
lm28469 6y ago
> the reason why we cannot > Your < reason maybe, not mine or the one of many others. The fear of death is tied to your culture/education, many people aren't anxious when they think about death
yakubin 6y ago
You're projecting.

goldenkey 6y ago

And more fundamentally, the fact that we aren't essential pieces of the universe in our human forms (we are as energy.) Because if we were, wouldn't we be immortal? ;-)

camjohnson26 6y ago

Distraction from mortality is actually a recurring point of discussion in Pascal’s writing. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”

DangitBobby 6y ago
On this face of it and without reading any of the other writings, this just sounds totally meaningless to me. Is the belief that true meaning or purpose in life can come only from within? What about your own thoughts are so sacred that everything else should be considered a distraction from them?
- polishdude20 6y ago
  To add onto this, what do you think you're doing when you're not in a room all alone with your thoughts? You're still thinking. It's not like I can't watch a YouTube video and think to myself at the same time. I think the aversion I have to being alone with my thoughts is the feeling that doing that won't help me. It's sort of like a neural network that I'd alone with its weights with no inputs to process except itself. I feel when I think to myself alone, I can't make any decisions because what I know is already what I knew before I started thinking to myself. Yo make decisions, I need external answers to questions. I need new information and evidence to start me to some conclusion.
saalaa 6y ago
In my opinion it's in fact the main point but I think this is partially lost in translation, divertissement meaning more than just distraction.

giantDinosaur 6y ago

For me it's definitely more that I have a smartphone which facilitates easy access to a socially accepted addiction - sitting alone might make me passingly think about some eventual demise but it certainly doesn't dominate my thinking. Wasn't this the basis of Terror Management theory ? I'm not sure that ever had much evidence for it, other than in some extremely general sense.

tertius 6y ago

Get over it.

rosywoozlechan 6y ago

While still of course afraid of actually dying, instead of being perennial fearful of death I am instead now grateful for being alive this day. Try that change in perspective. Background anxiety about our "eventual demise" is the consequence of false entitlement to life and health. Young and healthy people imagine good life without end, the dying and people who've lost health and ability often know better. This change in perspective also helps you make the most out of each day, because those who make a point to remember that their good days are finite will not want to have spent them in waste.

SyzygistSix 6y ago
>will not want to have spent them in waste. And will at least think about what this means.

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Which is just depression. I don't think about dying, unless its the topic of conversation or whatever. I think about living. There's no real point in dwelling on the other.

guytv 6y ago
I think there's a lot of merit on dwelling on death. Death can put your current life in laser like focus and perspective. Is what you're doing now really important? Is that what you want to do if you only had 1 year to live? Are you spending enough time on the things that are really important to you? All of these questions became clearer to me once I started realising and contemplating death regularly.
- majewsky 6y ago
  I appreciate what you're saying, but on the other hand, I wouldn't want to live in a world where everyone lived as if they had only one year to live. Most institutions are already waaaay too focused on short term profits.
  - ronyfadel 6y ago
    To me, guytv’s perspectice is eye opening: live “as if” you only have one more year to live, with a hint that there’s probably more years to come. It makes me feel like I need to be kind no matter what, not waste time (or at least, not tell myself that I’m wasting my time too many days in a row).
- zajio1am 6y ago
  You do not need death, just discount rate preferring near experience to far. Thinking about what if you only had 1 year to live just encourages short-term gains to long-term ones.

MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago

Death is only scary if you believe in hell.

Aeolun 6y ago

Certainly true for me. It’s still one of the most valuable things to contemplate though. At least, I’m still expecting to someday figure out why mortality isn’t a problem after all (or not mortality in the first place).

michalf6 6y ago

For me it worked to stop identifying "me" with the physical person or my consciousness, instead to identify with my hereditary line - as if I'm only a carrier for information that gets passed on. My reasoning being - natural selection is the only game I can't not play, so it gives me a fundamental goal in life to do well at it. Also helps with avoiding hedonism / addictions. When I successfully reproduce, I will stop fearing death.

lm28469 6y ago

> the reason why we cannot > Your < reason maybe, not mine or the one of many others. The fear of death is tied to your culture/education, many people aren't anxious when they think about death

yakubin 6y ago

You're projecting.