Famous British philosopher Andrew Zaltzman put it like this: if you leave a man alone in a room an electric socket he will eventually try to stick his dick into it.
All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
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Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#32I don’t like this gatekeeping philosophy. I feel that this line of thinking discourages self reflection because the first thing we usually notice when we look honestly at ourselves is what we don’t like about ourselves, but that is just a small part of who we really are. Discomfort from self awareness may be the first step to self improvement. Instead of (falsely) equating mental discomfort with causing “all problems”, we should instead work to understand our imperfections and work together to correct them.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#33Recently I was having a debate with a friend who said "you thought about this lot" in a mocking tone, and I suddenly realized how strange it was that that phrase is used so commonly as an insult. Solid thought isn't just good but necessary and we're seeing the symptoms of this everywhere.
I have heard that a couple times as well and all but once it has been mocking. There is almost a built in anti intellectualism to some people.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I 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.
In 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
The quote is from Blaise Pascal. The room experiment seems pretty ancillary to that.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#35I don’t like this gatekeeping philosophy. I feel that this line of thinking discourages self reflection because the first thing we usually notice when we look honestly at ourselves is what we don’t like about ourselves, but that is just a small part of who we really are. Discomfort from self awareness may be the first step to self improvement. Instead of (falsely) equating mental discomfort with causing “all problems…
The point of the quote is that people use distraction to mask the discomfort of sitting alone with their thoughts and that this distraction causes problems. It’s not saying that the discomfort is a problem.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#36> Yet even in 17th-century France, apparently, people hated being alone with their thoughts so intensely, they'd do almost anything else: play boules, start the Franco-Spanish war, and so on.
Is that a bad attempt at humor or sheer ignorance?
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#37If everyone just died tomorrow, we wouldn’t have any problems either.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
I 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.
In 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
He was calling out how people won’t face their miseries and will do almost anything else other than sitting alone with their own thoughts.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#39I don’t like this gatekeeping philosophy. I feel that this line of thinking discourages self reflection because the first thing we usually notice when we look honestly at ourselves is what we don’t like about ourselves, but that is just a small part of who we really are. Discomfort from self awareness may be the first step to self improvement. Instead of (falsely) equating mental discomfort with causing “all problems…
> the first thing we usually notice when we look honestly at ourselves
Most people cannot achieve that level of objectivity or self-awareness. That is measurable.
Re: All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)
#40Of course, what else is there in the world? We're only distracting ourselves from reality because it's harder to deal with.