Divertissement - Pascal

Blaise Pascal argues that humans, in order to avoid thinking about their condition, constantly engage in amusements and activities, which he calls divertissement, with the sole purpose of distracting themselves from reflecting on their own existence.

He writes: *"I have discovered that all of man’s misfortune comes from one thing: not knowing how to remain quietly in a room. [...] I sought to discover the reason for this and found that there is indeed one: it lies in the natural unhappiness of our condition—weak and mortal."*

HOW IT WORKS: Pascal's thought focuses on the difficulty of stopping to think about the human condition. Now, you can do this in a simple and literal way: by pressing the pause button, you can choose to stop and reflect, resuming the game (the divertissement) whenever you wish.

DEBRIEFING: Divertissement - Pascal

By pressing the pause button, you interrupted the game to reflect on human nature.

However, the pause button is usually used to switch from one activity to another, remaining within the cycle of divertissement.

By stopping the game and trying to reflect on the human condition (recreating Pascal’s experiment of being alone in a room), you might have found it difficult to focus on it, even if you tried.

Conversely, you might have had a different experience: managing to connect with the thought described by Pascal and then detaching from it the moment you resumed playing.

This simulation allows you to experience what Pascal describes: interrupting a divertissement, reflecting on human nature, and then returning to a distraction.

In the end, you can draw your own conclusions about what you have experienced.