Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Acedia

Overheard in a bookstore: "I have a very personal belief. The syncronicity of things in the last three days has been amazing. Everything fell into place. Some people may call it God. Awesome. I try to not figure it out..." Think about that! It is another example of cognitive acedia, which is epidemic in our "information society." "The more words, the less meaning, and what does it profit anyone?"--Ecclesiastes.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for introducing me to this word. It perfectly describes many of my students. While many would say they will just grow out of it, I am beginning to wonder if that is the case.

Ken Abbott said...

I confess I had to look it up.

Acedia: apathy, boredom.

Might "laziness" be an appropriate synonym, given the cited incident? Or perhaps "incuriosity?"

A hallmark of the "whatever" generation.