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How the Ancient Greeks Beat Distraction
Distractions seem ubiquitous today, but they’ve always been a part of human life. Here’s how to resist them.
Do you know where the word “tantalize” comes from?
Thank the guy in the photo above.
His name was Tantalus, and he was banished to the underworld by his father, Zeus. There, Tantalus found himself wading in a pool of water beside a tree that dangled a ripe fruit just above his head.
Yet whenever Tantalus tried to pick the fruit, the branch moved away, and whenever he bent down to drink the cool water, it receded so he could never quench his thirst. He was thus doomed for all eternity to yearn for things he could never have.
His story is why we call something desirable but just out of reach “tantalizing.”
It’s hard to conceive a better representation of the human condition. We are constantly reaching for something: more money, more experiences, more knowledge, more status, more stuff. The Greeks thought this was just part of the curse of being fallible mortals and used the story to portray the power of our incessant desires — desires that, without careful management, will distract us from the things we value most in life.
