Why Can't We Put Down Our Smartphones? The True Nature of 'Boredom' and 'Happiness' at Year-End, as Identified by Pascal 350 Years Ago
Christmas has passed, and there are only a few days left until New Year's Eve.
On this day, December 27th, how are you spending your time?
“Even though the year-end holidays have started, I somehow find myself just looking at my smartphone.”
“I don't have any particular business, but I feel anxious if I don't pack my schedule.”
If you feel that way, you are not alone.
Human beings have been afraid of 'time spent doing nothing' for 350 years.
The precocious genius born in 17th-century France, Blaise Pascal identified the root cause of human unhappiness in a single line in his posthumous collection, 'Pensées'.
The unhappiness of humanity arises from the inability to sit still in a room.
“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
It is a startling statement.
We are extremely afraid of loneliness, silence, and facing our own inner selves.
This is because if we think quietly alone, we are forced to confront 'realities we do not want to see,' such as our own weaknesses, the emptiness of life, and the fear of death.
Escape in the name of 'diversion'
That is why we desperately seek 'diversion' (divertissement).
In Pascal's time, that meant war, gambling, and hunting.
In the modern age, it is the endless scrolling of social media, excessive work, and online shopping.
Pascal points this out as follows:
People are obsessed with hunting rabbits not because they want the rabbit.
They simply want to erase the time spent thinking about themselves through the noisy act of 'chasing the rabbit'.
“What they are looking for is the commotion that prevents them from thinking about themselves and keeps them entertained.”
Perhaps our tendency to surrender to the busyness of the year-end or keep the TV or videos running is actually an unconscious defense instinct to escape from the 'fear of silence.'
Humans are 'thinking reeds'
However, Pascal is not simply preaching that we should 'not run away.'
Acknowledging that humans are weak and unreliable beings, he declared the following:
“Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature. But he is a thinking reed.”
Compared to the vastness of the universe, humans are weak beings who can be killed by a single drop of water or a puff of wind.
However, humans know that they will die and that the universe is vast.
We can think. In that one respect, humans are great.
At the end of the year, put down your smartphone and 'think'
There is very little left of 2025.
Today, for just 10 minutes, why not put down your smartphone, turn off the TV, and be 'quiet in your room'?
Stop distracting yourself with 'diversions' and face yourself in the silence.
“What did I feel this year?”
“How do I truly want to live?”
At first, anxiety or boredom might wash over you.
However, when you think it through without running away, you transform from a 'mere reed' into a dignified 'thinking reed.'
Let's stop seeking happiness in external noise (diversions).
For true peace exists only within your quiet room and within your own thoughts.