Pascal Didn’t Talk About Environmentalism, But He Would Have If He Were Here Today
Seventeenth Century mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “Human sensitivity to little things and insensitivity to the greatest things: sign of a strange disorder.”
Wow, I love that. And it’s so true. I have such admiration for this fellow that, if we had had another boy, I would have considered petitioning my wife to let me name him Pascal. Pascal Shields — it kind of grows on you.
Be this as it may….exactly what Pascal meant by “the greatest things” is unclear, though he was very wrapped up in things like the unknowability of humankind’s purpose and meaning in the cold, dark and hidden universe. Think of how little mental energy most people spend on things like that—or on the disastrous effects we’re creating on our environment–and how much we care about the minutia in our lives.