To Do Nothing(shilin.ca)
shilin.ca
To Do Nothing
https://shilin.ca/to-do-nothing/
19 comments
The philosopher Blaise Pascal once said that "all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Many of our world's troubles come from people doing stupid things rather than sitting peacefully with discomfort.
Doing nothing is actually a kind of discipline. The brain isn’t designed for idle time; evolution didn’t prioritize contentment—it prioritized survival. So Becky never really shuts up, because quiet might’ve once meant danger. Today, it just means our ancient wiring is nudging us to be productive, even when there’s nothing to produce.
Doing nothing is actually a kind of discipline. The brain isn’t designed for idle time; evolution didn’t prioritize contentment—it prioritized survival. So Becky never really shuts up, because quiet might’ve once meant danger. Today, it just means our ancient wiring is nudging us to be productive, even when there’s nothing to produce.
I would add a corollary to Pascal's remark. Not all of humanity's problems stem from that inability, bu the many of the ones that don't come instead from our inability to sit quietly in a room with others.
Fortunately, for more than 300 years, the Quakers have been showing us how this is done, and they inherit a long line of silent, social presence.
Fortunately, for more than 300 years, the Quakers have been showing us how this is done, and they inherit a long line of silent, social presence.
I would be interested in learning how
A shocking number of people are completely incapable of being alone with their thoughts.
I was at a bathhouse the other night and these two people were both playing videos, out loud, on their phones while having a conversation. They couldn't even have a conversation without some distraction.
Nowadays everyone has an earbud in their ear playing a podcast, music, or audiobook. Every task has to be accompanied by audio. People avoid social interaction by listening to something. Etc etc.
There are huge benefits to doing chores in silence or being outside without segregating your sense of sound.
It's up there with social media.
I'd be really curious if any mental health professionals have studied people with anxiety conditions and how much audio they listen to throughout the day.
It was either Radiolab or this American life that aired an episode about how the Sony walkman changed society forever. I think they were really onto something.
I was at a bathhouse the other night and these two people were both playing videos, out loud, on their phones while having a conversation. They couldn't even have a conversation without some distraction.
Nowadays everyone has an earbud in their ear playing a podcast, music, or audiobook. Every task has to be accompanied by audio. People avoid social interaction by listening to something. Etc etc.
There are huge benefits to doing chores in silence or being outside without segregating your sense of sound.
It's up there with social media.
I'd be really curious if any mental health professionals have studied people with anxiety conditions and how much audio they listen to throughout the day.
It was either Radiolab or this American life that aired an episode about how the Sony walkman changed society forever. I think they were really onto something.
Seems like a feature and not a bug to me. Otherwise, we would still be living in small bands in caves.
All western man's "problems" to me seem to be the want of utopian trade offs that we get all the upside of a trade off without trading anything and then complaining when that doesn't happen in reality.
In reality, what was good enough yesterday, is expected today and not good enough tomorrow. Exactly the chemical reaction that causes progress.
All western man's "problems" to me seem to be the want of utopian trade offs that we get all the upside of a trade off without trading anything and then complaining when that doesn't happen in reality.
In reality, what was good enough yesterday, is expected today and not good enough tomorrow. Exactly the chemical reaction that causes progress.
Live in the present, with your consciousness externalized momentarily but without any effort; when the mind stops linking itself to the past and to the future, it becomes no-mind. If from moment to moment your mind dwells on what is and drops it effortlessly at once [just before moving on to something else], the mind becomes no-mind, full of purity.
-- Yoga Vasistha (Chapter: The Story of Gadhi) translated by Swami Venkatesananda. You can get it from https://archive.org/details/swami-venkatesananda-vasisthas-y...
Some more details on the above verse can be seen at this blog Power of Present Moment – Yoga Vasishta - https://krishnapriya22013.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/power-of-...
-- Yoga Vasistha (Chapter: The Story of Gadhi) translated by Swami Venkatesananda. You can get it from https://archive.org/details/swami-venkatesananda-vasisthas-y...
Some more details on the above verse can be seen at this blog Power of Present Moment – Yoga Vasishta - https://krishnapriya22013.wordpress.com/2019/04/02/power-of-...
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
Blaise Pascal, Pensées
Blaise Pascal, Pensées
Great way to put it. If you are interested in a more elaborate description, checkout the intro to ‘The Untethered Soul’.
To the people here saying this is just meditation: the problem is that meditation is a solution to a problem most people don’t know they have.
I like this author’s post because of the Becky metaphor. The Untethered Soul goes into detail as to what happens if you keep paying attention to the voice inside your head.
This problem focused approach is more likely to get people meditating than just telling them about the benefits of meditation.
To the people here saying this is just meditation: the problem is that meditation is a solution to a problem most people don’t know they have.
I like this author’s post because of the Becky metaphor. The Untethered Soul goes into detail as to what happens if you keep paying attention to the voice inside your head.
This problem focused approach is more likely to get people meditating than just telling them about the benefits of meditation.
A relaxing video on this topic - to Be Still & Know. https://youtu.be/aBNpxPG4at0
Highlights how we prioritize distractions and loose track of ourselves. Healthy to take a pause and just look at the moment as it is without any stimuli.
Highlights how we prioritize distractions and loose track of ourselves. Healthy to take a pause and just look at the moment as it is without any stimuli.
I'd suggest trying meditation.
What is meditation anyway? Is it like what the author did, but where you fail to shut up your mind and then feel bad about not being one of the enlightened ones?
Weird that I have no difficulty doing nothing. Getting something done is my problem.
What are you reading?
What are you planning?
Who are you calling?
What are you planning?
Who are you calling?
It just seems that someone ignorant of Buddhism discovers meditation by himself
I think the real value of this post is that it's almost like discovering from first principles. Building up the knowledge bit by bit.
Thankfully it also provides a reference that can get past initial barriers and apprehension.. "meditation? Sounds too wooey" or "tried it, didn't work" are both I've heard often.
It could be the message that somebody needs.