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Why would you sit quietly alone in a room when you could be enjoying a sauna, soaking up the sun at the beach, or picnicking in a park? I don’t think the proble
by ummonk 6y ago
Why would you sit quietly alone in a room when you could be enjoying a sauna, soaking up the sun at the beach, or picnicking in a park? I don’t think the problem is sitting alone with one’s thoughts - but rather that an indoor room isn’t a particularly desirable environment. At least it isn’t as undesirable as an airplane seat though.
- war1025 6y agoI think the "in a room" is irrelevant to the quote. The entire idea is that people hate being alone with their thoughts and will do nearly anything to avoid being in that situation.
- flockonus 6y agoIn a room was the setup for the alleged experiment, therefore not irrelevant. I'm wary how quickly the writer jumps to the conclusion that it's thought avoidance and not, possibly, just the fact our minds seek stimulation
- war1025 6y agoThe quote is from Blaise Pascal. The room experiment seems pretty ancillary to that.
- camjohnson26 6y agoHe was calling out how people won’t face their miseries and will do almost anything else other than sitting alone with their own thoughts.
- manigandham 6y agoThought is stimulation.
- ummonk 6y agoOkay as a personal example I like to take warm showers - they’re extremely comfortable and relaxing - essentially a makeshift sauna. I find that if I’m not deliberate enough about actually completing the shower, I can get lost in my own thoughts and spend over 30 minutes showering. Now I’m certainly more introverted than average, but I would guess that a lot of other people can likewise get lost in their own thoughts in a sufficiently relaxing environment.
- jeremyjh 6y agoThere is some stimulation there, and you have a task to accomplish even if you don't go about it very steadily. I'm comfortable going for long walks outside alone with my thoughts, even if its far too cold. But the cold, or the sunlight, or the breeze is all stimulation. Being alone in a room for a period with no task to accomplish - or to not accomplish - without stimuli is definitely less comfortable.
- manigandham 6y agoThe environment doesn't matter. If it does then you're already distracted from the thought.
- ummonk 6y agoThat’s absurd. To take it to extremes, for example, if you made someone sit alone in the freezing cold and they complained, the environment is the issue not their ability to live alone with their thoughts.
- wruza 6y agoExcept the room wasn’t cold. The only extreme condition is that it is empty and there is nothing but yourself to inspect and feel.
- joe_the_user 6y agoI would assume the room is an average room, in contrast to a warm you could swim in, trampoline you could play on or similar physical outlets. The key thing, I would claim, from a "whole person" perspective, is that the contrast is "sit quietly, forget your body entirely and think" and "get stressed by bodily tension and start an uncontrollable argument with yourself" where "bring your mind and body into harmony through movement" isn't an options.
- manigandham 6y agoBut why "take it to extremes"? Yes, if you're sitting next to a volcano or on a glacier then outside conditions can affect your ability to think. Obviously. However the OP said "an indoor room isn’t a particularly desirable environment" - and that actually is absurd. If you need to be in a sauna or on a beach then you're already too distracted by the environment to be able to think deeply.
- 0xbadcafebee 6y agoPicnicking is doing something. Saunaing is doing something. Lying on the beach is doing something. They're all activities driven by desire, and the desire exists to distract you from inner contemplation. When you're finally just thinking about yourself, your "desirable surroundings" will disappear. You'll be trapped in the discomfort of your mind. You'll then try to escape these thoughts by focusing on the picnic, sauna, beach. Sitting in a room alone is just a metaphor for only thinking about your inner self. You can do that anywhere. And most people can't stand it, so they do something else. So, your conclusion is right, in that people would always prefer to do anything else other than focus on their inner thoughts. Like being in a place that distracts them.
- polishdude20 6y agoBut you're always "doing something" no matter if it's at the beach, in a room, laying on your bed, or in a solitary confinement prison. We are always cognizant of the fact that we are in some environment unless we are sleeping. But then when we sleep, the mind conjures up all sorts of scenarios and crazy environments without giving us a cohesive chance of actually "thinking".
- hindsightbias 6y agoBefore small screens and walkmans, millions of people flew every day in an airplane seat trapped with their own thoughts. For many, it was probably the only time they experienced this. I actually get comments from other passengers now how I can sit and look out the window for hours without music, movie or book. In their rooms, they have other venues and probably less fear of negative self-conscious thoughts (too fat, ugly, whatever for the beach). I wonder how many Hikikomori are in their own thoughts vs escaping into online venues.
- VladimirGolovin 6y agoThis is exactly why I love airports and flying -- and I always buy the window seat too.
- elcomet 6y agoAnd all of them had books or newspapers.
- hindsightbias 6y agoSomewhat, mostly crosswords and then vocal frustration when the travel mag crossword was already filled out. I can think of half a dozen very personal conversations with random seatmates about their lives and problems. Something about opening up to strangers, and am pretty sure it wasn’t my personality or looks. Now that doesn’t happen anymore because you’re never trapped together with no outlets for hours on end. One of my writing ideas (probably not original) was a retired psychologist who just flew on random flights and talked to whomever they sat next to. Now that plot would make no sense.
- Aerroon 6y agoI don't understand. Most of the time you decide to go to sleep you are alone with your thoughts without any distractions. It might only be for a brief time, but it's still true, no?
- hindsightbias 6y ago
- colechristensen 6y agoBecause people do things to avoid the discomfort of awareness without distraction. Of course there’s nothing wrong with doing things, but there is, perhaps, with always having to be doing something.