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“... that human beings will naturally seek distractions rather than confront their own thoughts in moments of solitude and quiet because those thoughts will eventually lead them to consider unpleasant matters such as their own mortality, the vanity of their endeavors, and the general frailty of the human condition.”
~ Blaise Pascal
@corlin: True fact, and lo, do people really actively dislike it when they meet people to whom such "dark thoughts" are no bother but are everyday and not depressing or disconcerting. Well, they actively dislike it unless those people are Buddhist monks in full uniform. Then they don't mind because of visual cues in western culture.