[mnky9800n]

there is a wonderful quote from a soviet movie called guest from the future, you can watch the whole movie on youtube with english subtitles here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BB6bwJ9agM

Anyways, the quote is:

>> You are a pathetic victim of an idle mind.

I think this aptly describes the author.

[nishantmodak]

Wasn't it pascal who said that all of our problems come from our inability to be bored.

[joncrocks]

The commonly repeated phrase:

All of humanity's problems, stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone. - attributed to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

I think it's someone paraphrasing from the original text.

https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/69487/why-did...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal

[lloeki]

It is, and the thinking of it runs deeper than the quote, in ways that directly echo TFA author's own words:

http://www.mpafrancais.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/9/8/19984595/p...

(en français, of course. I link to it in its original language as I take issue with the usual translation of the very title as "Diversion", which immediately lacks the double-entendre of "Divertissement", which in french stands for both "diversion" and "entertainment")

Maybe what TFA author should do is spend some time standing on the shoulders of giants and read some philosophy?

[BlueTemplar]

> Tel homme passe sa vie sans ennui en jouant tous les jours peu de chose. Donnez-lui tous les matins l’argent qu’il peu gagner chaque jour, à la charge qu’il ne joue point : vous le rendez malheureux. On dira peut-être que c’est qu’il recherche l’amusement du jeu, et non pas le gain. Faites-le donc jouer pour rien, il ne s’y échauffera pas et s’y ennuiera. Ce n’est donc pas l’amusement seul qu’il recherche : un amusement languissant et sans passion l’ennuiera. Il faut qu’il s’échauffe et qu’il se pipe lui-même, en s’imaginant qu’il serait heureux de gagner ce qu’il ne voudrait pas qu’on lui donnât à condition de ne point jouer, afin qu’il se forme un sujet de passion, et qu’il excite sur cela son désir, sa colère, sa crainte, pour l’objet qu’il s’est formé, comme les enfants qui s’effrayent du visage qu’ils ont barbouillé.

I wouldn't be so sure about this, this might depend on the personality of the player. Some might think that introducing monetary stakes in fact ruins the game itself. And you can even take it further : the winning itself might become secondary - at which point playing the game is probably more akin to a form of artistic expression, infused with a different kind of meaning. (There are also games where you win, but in cooperation with others rather than against others.)

But then this passage also reminded me of this recent thread :

"More men are addicted to the 'crack cocaine' of the stock market"

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42468255