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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 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.
Solid thought isn't just good but necessary and we're seeing the symptoms of this everywhere.
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.
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.
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.
The environment doesn't matter. If it does then you're already distracted from the thought.
Sorry for the morbid take, but the reason why we cannot sit quietly alone is to distract ourselves from our eventual demise.
“Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”
It's a funny thing. Most of us have no trouble driving a car for an hour without any further entertainment, and letting our brains wander freely in the meantime. Most of the driving we do on auto-pilot. (Spoiler: Much of the thinking, too, actually, it turns out when you look closer during meditation). But put the same person in an empty room and the same task of letting your mind wander becomes odious. Odd, no?
Sorry for the morbid take, but the reason why we cannot sit quietly alone is to distract ourselves from our eventual demise.