Our society isn't exactly set up for "doing nothing", either. If you're just sitting somewhere without doing anything, you might be loitering, you'll start getting funny looks if this goes on for extended periods of time.
On the other hand, if you're sitting somewhere and you're smoking, or reading, none of that seems to happen. I wonder if we're uncomfortable with other people's ability to do nothing.
In 2002, on my way to work in I think Berkeley (definitely somewhere in the Bay Area), I noticed some beautiful echoes in the subway station, and I stopped walking, stood still, and listened. A staff member walked up and asked if I was okay. I said yes. Maybe I explained what I was doing, I don't remember. A few minutes later three paramedics appeared, forcibly strapped me to a gurney, and took me to a hospital.
I protested, of course. They were clearly not being paid to listen to me.
Without more context and the ability to verify this I have to assume that you made it up. The event is too extreme to stand without corroboration; at least it would be where I live.
I was once crossing the Golden Gate Bridge on foot and about halfway across the view of the bay was so beautiful that I had to stop and drink it in. (Have you heard the phrase "arresting beauty" or "arrested by beauty"? That's how it was: I was captivated. It was just so beautiful!)
Anyway, after maybe ten minutes a bicycle police officer came up and started talking to me. It took me a moment to realize that he was sounding me out for emotional distress, checking to see if I was suicidal. I gave him my best smile (easy enough as I was still in the thrall of beauty) and reassured him emphatically that I was okay, and thanked him for doing his (IMO very important) job and apologized for making him come out and check on me (no good reason not to be extra nice in the circs, eh?) and went on my way.
I'm not blaming the OP for getting, uh, overbearing and unneeded help. I'm pointing out that our society has developed mechanisms to try to prevent suicide in the obvious places: GGB and BART (the "subway" in Berkeley.)
> The Golden Gate Bridge is the most used suicide site in the world.
> After years of debate and an estimated more than 1,500 deaths, suicide barriers, consisting of a stainless steel net extending 20 feet from the bridge and supported by structural steel 20 feet under the walkway, began to be installed in April 2017.
...so, you're telling me that in these united states of america a bunch of goons took you by force and detained you from continuing your day for the crime of ... standing and listening to the sounds around you?
I would burn half the city to the ground after getting out for that bullshit, at least they'd have a valid reason to commit me then.
The idea that you could be hurting no one and be snatched up and taken somewhere against your will is extremely upsetting to me.
I was quite upset. Looking back I'm surprised I didn't seek damages in court. But that was before cell phones were ubiquitous, and I was in a new town where I didn't know basically anyone but my mom, and I don't have a photographic memory for faces. I felt powerless. Indeed, I believe I was.
Good questions. I imagine listened somewhere between one and ten minutes. At the hospital I remember nothing except that my arm was tied to a bar above my head for long enough that it hurt, and I had to plead to get them to restrain me some other way. I don't know whether I received a bill. Neither does my mom, who probably would have paid for it, as I was making peanuts.
I wish I'd kept a diary. (I actually did a lot of writing that year, but it was of the creative sort. I held onto a box full of it for years. I went through it once and thought it was dumb, but kept it still. The second time I did that, years later, I confirmed my earlier judgment and decided it wasn't worth keeping.)
That's interesting. In any old place? I wasn't anywhere near the tracks; I was in a big underground space on my way out.
I wasn't suicidal, but I was definitely unhappy that year. I don't know to what extent that showed. It may have been later in life that I developed my habitual friendliness with strangers.
I do remember deciding shortly after that to learn to fear other peoples' potential fears. It's a pain in the ass, but optimal, I think.
(BTW you know you can look through a commenter's history on HN to see if an interpretation of something they wrote is consistent with their character.)
>“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
From a philosopher writing in the 1600s. I don't think it's an issue with any particular society. It just seems part of human nature to be inable to sit and do nothing for a significant period of time.
It is not part of human nature. It does happen when a person has a restless mind, however.
How would you test this? The first way is direct: learn to quiet your own mind. The second way is through inference: observe a newborn baby who doesn't need food and when there isn't excessive stimulation (light sound, smell, pain, etc.) - they simply observe what is around them.
Because that's all a new born baby can do (and often they're not happy about it). As soon as they're mobile they will interact with their environment whenever they can.
On the other hand, if you're sitting somewhere and you're smoking, or reading, none of that seems to happen. I wonder if we're uncomfortable with other people's ability to do nothing.