The Hidden Danger of Comfort: Why Your Brain Needs Challenge

We built a world striving for safety and security, a haven from the constant struggle for survival that defined most of human history. Yet, in achieving this remarkable feat, we've stumbled upon a peculiar, modern problem: what do we do with this hard-won security? What is the purpose of our leisure, if not simply to avoid boredom? It seems that for many, the absence of external challenges leaves a void, a blankness of mind and gaze.

The Arrival of Scheduled Leisure

For millennia, leisure was an unimaginable luxury. Life was consumed by the relentless toil needed just to stay alive. It wasn't until the great societal shifts starting a few centuries ago, particularly the rapid industrial changes of the late nineteenth century, that something revolutionary occurred: scheduled free time. For perhaps the first time, large numbers of people had hours in the day not dictated by work or basic survival, time they could theoretically fill as they chose.

Over a century later, the fruits of this revolution are abundant. We have more leisure, more resources, and more freedom from the daily grind than ever before. But this very freedom presents each of us with a profound question: what are we free for? How do we use the time that isn't spent just keeping ourselves alive?

The Common Trap: The Comfort of Conformity

Few seem to grapple with this question directly. Instead, like with many big questions about how to live, a kind of unconscious conformity takes over. The unspoken assumption is that free time is best spent passively – relaxing, consuming entertainment, watching life from the sidelines. Philosopher Richard Taylor observed this pattern, noting how many lives settle into a predictable rhythm of empty activities. Days are filled watching screens, engaging in conversations about trivialities – the comings and goings of others, the weather – things forgotten almost as soon as they're mentioned. There's little aspiration beyond getting through another day much like the last, leaving the world essentially unchanged by one's passage through it. This, Taylor suggests, becomes the accepted, habitual "normal."

Some might argue there's nothing inherently wrong with this. Modern life is stressful, mental health challenges are rising; perhaps more passive relaxation is exactly what's needed.

The Hidden Cost: Stagnation and Unhappiness

However, not everyone agrees that passivity is benign. The writer Colin Wilson, reflecting on his own experiences, came to a different conclusion. He noticed early in his life that his own periods of depression often followed stretches of inactivity, times when he wasn't engaged with interesting tasks or challenges. It was as if, without active engagement, a fog of pessimism would descend. He believed that boredom and passivity weren't just harmless states but could act like stagnant water, breeding grounds for mental unease and unhappiness. "An idle mind," the old saying goes, "is the devil's workshop." Wilson felt that frequent inactivity doesn't bolster mental health; it undermines it, creating a sense of being cut off from one's own deeper potential.

If this connection holds true, we face a clear choice: we can let our leisure time drift away in passive pursuits, leaving our potential untapped and perhaps inviting psychological distress, or we can consciously choose to fill that time differently.

The Path to Growth: Embracing Active Engagement

The alternative path involves striving: creating, exploring, learning, accomplishing, challenging our abilities, and honing our talents. This route undoubtedly demands effort, persistence, and often the sacrifice of immediate, easy pleasures. Yet, the potential payoff is immense: genuine mental well-being and personal growth. As Wilson suggested, a mentally healthy person is one accustomed to drawing upon their deeper life reserves. Conversely, allowing the mind to remain inactive, only superficially engaged, can lead to feelings of disconnection and inner unease.

Finding True Self-Worth: The Quest for Pride

But what if this link between passivity and unhappiness only applies to a few? What if most people can be perfectly content with a passive existence? Does that make striving a waste of energy? Richard Taylor, in his book Restoring Pride, argues compellingly that the effort to do and create is always valuable. Why? Because such efforts significantly increase our chances of attaining a rare state he calls "pride."

Taylor defines pride not as arrogance or narcissism (which he sees as masks for insecurity), but as a justified love of oneself. This kind of genuine self-love, he argues, must be earned; it must be based on who you actually are and what you can do. He suggests developing skills, striving for excellence in some area, and achieving a level of mastery that distinguishes you.

The idea that some people are "superior" in skill or achievement might sound jarring today, as Taylor notes, because we often confuse equal rights with equal value. While every person possesses inherent rights and deserves equality under the law, this doesn't mean every person achieves the same level of skill, virtue, or contribution. Recognizing excellence in oneself, based on real accomplishment, is the foundation for the authentic self-love that Taylor calls pride.

The Choice Before Us

So, the next time we find ourselves with free time, instead of automatically reaching for the remote or scrolling aimlessly, perhaps we should pause. Ask: Is the fleeting comfort of this passive activity worth the irreplaceable resource of my time and potential? Even if passivity doesn't lead us directly into depression, it undeniably diminishes our potential and lessens our chances of achieving that profound self-acceptance that comes with genuine pride.

As Taylor powerfully stated, while some may seem destined for an ordinary existence, most possess a capacity for creativity, even greatness. Yet, many settle for fleeting pleasures, indulging the easier parts of our nature, content to simply get by with minimal pain and the approval of others. They might live this way even while possessing the potential to do something unique, something original. To choose the harder path, to create something well, whether appreciated by others or not – that, Taylor suggests, is what truly affirms our humanity and justifies the self-love we call pride.

References:

• Taylor, Richard. Restoring Pride: The Lost Virtue of Our Age. Prometheus Books, 1996.
  This book directly explores the concept of pride as a virtue rooted in genuine accomplishment and self-mastery. Taylor argues for the importance of striving for excellence as the basis for justified self-love, contrasting it with unearned self-esteem or arrogance. Relevant sections discuss the nature of pride, its connection to individual achievement, and its distinction from related concepts like vanity and narcissism (particularly in chapters like "Pride" and "Self-Esteem").
• Wilson, Colin. Introduction to the New Existentialism. Hutchinson, 1966. (Later editions also available).
  While not solely focused on passivity, this work outlines Wilson's philosophical response to existential angst. He argues against passive acceptance of meaninglessness and advocates for a proactive engagement with life through heightened consciousness, will, and the pursuit of peak experiences. It provides context for his views on how active mental engagement and striving towards goals combat feelings of depression, boredom, and alienation, suggesting that passivity leads to a diminishment of human potential and psychological vitality. The core arguments about overcoming limitations through conscious effort are central to the themes discussed in the article.