All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014)

Whatever condition we picture to ourselves, if we muster all the good things which it is possible to possess, royalty is the finest position in the world. Yet, when we imagine a king attended with every pleasure he can feel, if he be without diversion, and be left to consider and reflect on what he is, this feeble happiness will not sustain him; he will necessarily fall into forebodings of dangers, of revolutions which may happen, and, finally, of death and inevitable disease; so that if he be without what is called diversion, he is unhappy, and more unhappy than the least of his subjects who plays and diverts himself.

Hence it comes that play and the society of women, war, and high posts, are so sought after. Not that there is in fact any happiness in them, or that men imagine true bliss to consist in money won at play, or in the hare which they hunt; we would not take these as a gift. We do not seek that easy and peaceful lot which permits us to think of our unhappy condition, nor the dangers of war, nor the labour of office, but the bustle which averts these thoughts of ours, and amuses us.

Reasons why we like the chase better than the quarry.

Hence it comes that men so much love noise and stir; hence it comes that the prison is so horrible a punishment; hence it comes that the pleasure of solitude is a thing incomprehensible. And it is in fact the greatest source of happiness in the condition of kings, that men try incessantly to divert them, and to procure for them all kinds of pleasures.

The king is surrounded by persons whose only thought is to divert the king, and to prevent his thinking of self. For he is unhappy, king though he be, if he think of himself.

This is all that men have been able to discover to make themselves happy. And those who philosophise on the matter, and who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare which they would not have bought, scarce know our nature. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities; but the chase which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.

This is really interesting from a modern perspective. I'm an audiophile - I've spent countless hours just sitting in a chair in front of a stereo system I've spent a couple thousand on. If I ever lapse into non-attention to the music, I try and get back to the music. It's like mindfulness meditation, but unlike the monk, my mind is focusing on a sense, not emptying itself.

On the other hand, I can't lie in bed for more than two minutes without deep introspection - my morality, arguments for and against all positions, what projects I want to work on, the papers I've read, etc.

But before writing some comments on this website and elsewhere, I'll have a deep think about what I'm arguing, and why. Other times I'll just jump at it for the engagement, the thrill of refreshing in the morning to check the Hacker News Engagement Number, whatever else. I've tried to make an effort to not read outrage-bait on Reddit, I've deleted my Twitter account years ago, I've done countless things. This i my third HN account.

The best part of my day, after work and my energy is exhausted? Gaming. I only play one game - online and multi-player, with an Icelandic man I've never met. It's all a distraction. Why continue learning piano, Japanese, philosophy, literature, introspection, when I have this pleasure right here? Where will I be in 30 years? 20 years? Even writing this comment sadness comes over me.

To think that in the 19th century, there were men being compared to Hegel and Feuerbach at age 21. What the hell am I doing?

For December, I quit sugar, social media, and video games. It's been really interesting to notice what state I'm in when I go to reach for those things. Sometimes it's just habit, but often it's because I'm uncomfortable or in distress and want to avoid those feelings. But indulging in those things often just kicks the problem down the road.

Indeed, breaking my social media habits reminds me of Oscar Wilde talking about cigarettes: "A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?" The same for me is definitely true with Twitter and Facebook. An infinite feed of shiny, entertaining, funny, and outraging things, but almost nothing that's ever satisfying.

Someone can paste it here after googling.

Thinking is the last remaining freedom, as long as you don't say all the things you think of out loud. :)

* the modern world emergently selects for these interruptions, I'm not suggesting an anti-mindfulness conspiracy. Its why Buddha is sometimes depicted with lions and tigers. The legend is that when a meditating practitioner is near to enlightenment, he or she will hallucinate ferocious beasts and those are illusions that come about as he nears enlightenment in order to distract him or her.

External stimulus means you’re with other humans that you can cooperate with. That you’re sharing stories and learning. That you’re hunting for food. That you’re building a shelter. All these things are necessary for survival. It seems possible that being sociable and industrious might well have been bread into us at some point. And it’s probably the reason we aren’t like big cats in Africa, just hunting and then resting to conserve energy.

We should not be suggesting to people that their instincts are a moral failure to be cured.

Me as well. I wonder if it is the upside to having near-crippling ADHD.

I find audiobooks and podcasts are also great for walking. Popular science and good self help is interesting but the best ones for a quiet state of complementation are thoughtful interviews, biographies and story driven intellectual books (Yuval Noah Harari is particularly excellent). In some ways they are another distraction but I like to listen for a while then take off the headphones and think on a section while I walk another mile.

Though you mention that walking is what helps you keep distractions under control, I like to go walking while listening to history/science podcasts, since it helps me understand the content a lot better.

The act of walking is said to be greatly beneficial for thinking in its own right [0].

So when I get an idea, I usually drop everything I'm doing and go for walk. And my anecdata can only confirm that it's beneficial.

This is why I am so excited about the idea of working remotely using AR glasses. Just imagine going hiking through the mountains while checking your emails or being on a conference call – only taking breaks to type out some code on a portable keyboard.

Regardless of the cognitive performance boost this would give you, it would also mitigate a lot of the health issues we humans have started accumulating since we started sitting down all day.

Of course Einstein also famously claimed to have only moved to Princeton for the walks home with Gödel [1].

[0] I found this news item in a pinch, but I'm sure there are many studies to substantiate the claim: https://news.stanford.edu/2014/04/24/walking-vs-sitting-0424...

[1] I would have to do some digging to find the original phrasing (Einstein is often misattributted), so take it with a pinch of salt. But there is an entire book who's title alludes to this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Einstein_Walked_with_G%C3...

(the book is great btw)

I think this has to be about the 'diffused mode' of the brain- they talked about in the course 'Learning How To Learn'- as opposed to the focused mode.

To also contribute to the discussion. I often joke that it takes effort to mess things up. You could instead lay on the beach enjoy the evening breeze than putting in that effort. So before you delve into that process, take a step back and think carefully what you want out of it.

I like long walks accompanied by music (ambient music). Walking can be a deeply meditative experience, just pick terrain that won't give you trouble (no high traffic streets, no steep hills etc) and just go. Walk until your body starts doing it mechanically, and don't focus on the destination nor in search of stimuli. Maybe because walking exerts energy, it can be more effective than just sitting or laying down - when you are really energetic and not tired. Maybe because the scenery changes and it acts as a context switch to our minds.

It has been both effective as a form of emotion regulation, coming up with novel solutions, and just feeling more in sync with myself.

When the central channel (referred to as sushumna in yoga) is open and energy flows freely, you can feel ecstatic sensations in the centre of the brain as the upper centres become energised. It's important to relax the body, including the eyes, head and brain itself.

I feel it like a sort of exhilaration, like the first time I went on a rollercoaster or cycled my bike fast down a hill etc. It's an electrically alive feeling.

I hear this is just the start: what starts as a trickle becomes a torrent, apparently.

I take time and pray to God each morning. I find that this gives me peace. I feel better prepared to deal with the day when I pray.

My routine is focused around praying the Lord's Prayer, as in the prayer Jesus taught. Praying this prayer over years has enabled some truths to sink in. For example, the first part of the prayer is not about us, it is about God. I think it is good to start the day with the understanding we are not the centre of the universe. Secondly, I have been struck by how the Lord's prayer does not start at the place of forgiveness. Whether that be seeking forgiveness or asking for forgiveness. This gives me peace in the knowledge I don't need to have it all together before I engage with God in prayer.

Makes me wonder what the reality is with kids nowadays that are right there under their parents nose noodling around on their phone. Are they getting into less trouble, or more trouble?

One thing I'd say is that it's not always the techniques that feel the hardest that actually offer the most benefits. I believe Buddha's term "middle way" referred to a way that was in the middle between extreme privation/altered consciousness and the ordinary world. I think those interested in meditation techniques should consider this.

And in terms of long term silent retreats, I had an old friend who's schizophrenic symptoms were intensified by retreats of that sort and meditation in general isn't a thing that's riskless - I recall the possibility of serious reactions to meditation and intensive meditation in particular has been documented in a number of articles.

Which relates to claims about "All problems"

This is key. Too much importance to thinking and thoughts otherwise all around. See even during "meditation" we tend to talk about "watching thoughts" like they are something special worth that attention.

A very very corny way I like to think about this is the separation of the init process (being) from other processes (thought, sensation etc.). I know this is a very superficial interpretation, but I find it helpful.

“Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for miseries and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”

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.

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).

When I successfully reproduce, I will stop fearing death.

> 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

If you accept that premise, the a journey begins how to guide the time in silence such that your life quality "in noise" actually benefits well from investing into silence.

Notice that this has absolutely nothing to do with finance, material wealth, neither as precondition nor as outcome.

I don’t see the difference? If some researcher asks me between sitting in silenceand getting an electric shock, I know what I’d pick.

Most people cannot achieve that level of objectivity or self-awareness. That is measurable.

The entire idea is that people hate being alone with their thoughts and will do nearly anything to avoid being in that situation.

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.

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.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with doing things, but there is, perhaps, with always having to be doing something.

I don't. Although if reading qualifies as "doing something", I guess I'm almost never not doing anything, because if I don't have anything else to do, I almost always read. Of course I've always been careful to have plenty of reading material on hand; one nice thing about a smartphone is that you can carry a whole library around with you wherever you go.

In situations where I genuinely have nothing to do, not even read, I might get bored if I can't come up with something to think about, but I wouldn't say it's uncomfortable for me to not do anything. It's just a situation where it's on me to come up with something to think about.

I do like not doing anything, particularly not having to do anything. Perhaps over a longer time period I would think differently, but so far I haven't felt it. However, not doing anything is a waste of time. It doesn't really give me anything and excessive wasting of time has negative consequences on life. If I were wealthy enough then I'd probably do it way more.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet:_The_Power_of_Introverts...

To be a good leader, you have to be willing to confront AND navigate conflict within a group setting in a productive manner that ultimately achieves an agreed upon goal. One of the defining traits of an introvert is avoiding conflict. Thus, no, introverts don't INHERENTLY make good leaders. If you've ever dealt with even a moderately diverse group of individuals due to their capabilities (not in the sense of level of skill, but range of skills), you'd know that the motivations of individuals vary wildly. Even if they are similar, they're oddly unique in their own ways at their own times. Regardless of your unicorn-fart fantasies, extrovert personalities are better equipped to handle groups with varying motivations to achieve the same goal. Not to say introverts can't be good or even great leaders. To name one, Eisenhower was an introvert and he is regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century for a multitude of reasons. Leadership takes intent and purposeful practice/training for them to achieve. The absolution concept that they're the "best" just means you've never been in even a mild range of real world team projects. You would have seen many easily fall apart in the midst of dealing with somewhat strenuous situations. It's an easier absolution that extroverts make the best leaders, yet even that is untrue. It just takes extroverts less practice to achieve "great" than it does for introverts since they already possess a lot of the skill sets that introverts are lacking. Ultimately, leaders are made, not born.

If by wikipedia then you think they are exclusive and might even think that introverts are people who just want to sit at home.

Not wanting too much company can also be associated with highly sensitive people and not necessarily introverts. About 30% of highly sensitive people are in fact extroverted.

And there is no single trait or concept that makes someone a good leader but rather a mix of lot different psychological and biological setups.

It's even worse: some societies reward quick thinking and shun deep thinking.

Mostly the English-speaking societies, people can even become unsettled or giggle if they see someone staring at a wall, deep in though.

Navel-gazing isn't a virtue. Though ideally you probably want to be with people who think that the same stuff is important.

Eliot is often beyond me, but The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Ash Wednesday both made intuitive sense to me in many ways.

Plus sitting on a toilet too long gives me pins and needles in my legs. And I hear it can cause blood clots. I suppose it depends on how comfortable one's toilet is, and whether you use one of those foot stools?

Because of man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.