What a 17th century French mathematician has to teach us about digital distraction

Here’s something that I can’t get out of my mind recently:

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

—    Blaise Pascal

Pascal’s quote is fundamentally about solitude and connecting with yourself. Living in the early-to-mid 1600s, he defined solitude as sitting quietly in a room alone. Which makes sense — at that time, there wasn’t much you could do except connect with yourself when you were in a room alone.

In 2019, by contrast, you can be in a room alone, and yet not be truly alone. If you’re reading the news or watching Netflix or scrolling social media, you can avoid any kind of connection with yourself.

This quote made me wonder: Sure, most of us in 2019 evade solitude by using technology. But is the desire to evade true solitude even more fundamental than that? Have we always avoided the uncomfortable feelings and thoughts that can come up when we’re alone?

I get why we do it. And yet, solitude can be so helpful for shifting from being reactive to being intentional, processing feelings, doing focused work, and thinking big picture.

What do we gain when we avoid true solitude? And what do we lose?

As always, I’m rooting for you. You’ve got this.

Katie