Every page of this book is disturbing. But this part stands out.

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Simultaneously one of the most cynical [music] and hopeful thinkers in history, Bla1 Pascal was a scientific genius brought to spiritual extremes, [music] a morbidly sensitive, neurotic-like mind

with the eloquence of a poet, and a theologian who saw God, reason, and meaning, fear, misery, and hope, all in a strange dance where they never quite touch, but always move in lock step,

striving toward a display of redemption.

Pascal was born in 1623 in Claremont Feron, France. As a young boy, he very

Feron, France. As a young boy, he very quickly had many reasons to feel the despair etched into [music] human existence. His mother died when he was

existence. His mother died when he was just 3 years old. He was frequently ill, dealing with chronic issues like digestive and abdominal disorders, migraines, and neurological attacks, as well as many other symptoms like

heightened sensitivity, [music] pain, and fatigue. Largely because of these

and fatigue. Largely because of these health issues, he experienced a very constrained early social life. From

within this vortex of social isolation, a sickly body and an awareness of the transients of life found in the empty space left by his mother. Pascal looked

out at the world and saw all this detail, absurdity, and horror through the eyes of a genius. By an early age, it was clear that Pascal was a prodigy in math and science. By just 12 years

old, he had worked out Uklid's first 32 geometric propositions completely on his own. By age 16, he had developed a

own. By age 16, he had developed a theorem in geometry still known today as Pascal's theorem. By his 20s, he had

Pascal's theorem. By his 20s, he had constructed what would become the first mechanical calculator, formulated the principles behind the hydraulic press and syringe, helped invent what would become modern probability theory, and

assisted in establishing Paris's [music] first public transport system. He was

fully on his way to becoming a major scientist and mathematician of the scientific revolution. That is until

scientific revolution. That is until [music] things took a very strange and unexpected turn.

By his early 30s, Pascal had essentially given up on math and science. Instead,

his focus turned almost entirely toward religious and philosophical matters.

This shift was likely partly brought on by his health challenges, which had only continued to get worse. Far more

significantly, however, it appears to have been triggered by a sudden, bizarre, and powerful religious experience he had at age 31, which would come to be referred to as the night of fire. While likely alone at home one

fire. While likely alone at home one night, a sudden, violent, visceral experience of fire, peace, joy, certainty, and God overwhelmed Pascal.

[music] It was, according to him, something beyond all reason, language, and philosophy, an intellectual rebirth, a descent into a kind of spiritual

madness, or both, depending on who you ask. Soon after, Pascal began to write a

ask. Soon after, Pascal began to write a book. His intention was to defend

book. His intention was to defend Christianity and bring readers to God.

At age 39, however, Pascal died from his lifelong escalating battle with poor health. The precise cause never fully

health. The precise cause never fully being determined. He never managed to

being determined. He never managed to finish the book. Instead, [music] the notes, ideas, and arguments that he left behind during the early development process [music] were collected and pieced together, forming what is now

known as Pon, an apheristic style book exploring nearly all aspects of the human condition. Somewhat ironically,

human condition. Somewhat ironically, Pon would go on to become far more famous for its secular philosophical insights than its religious defenses.

Pascal originally intended the book to be divided into two parts. The first

part was supposed to be a diagnosis of the human condition as an ailment. The

second part was supposed to function as a prescription of Christianity as the treatment. The surviving Pon, however,

treatment. The surviving Pon, however, lays out into several sections, primarily an exploration of existential despair, the human longing for hope and meaning, the primary modes of thought

and reason, and attempts at a theological defense for redemption. In

the work, Pascal covers just about everything that is terrible about human existence. From corruption to anxiety to

existence. From corruption to anxiety to hubris to our frenzy for distraction from ourselves and our reality. With the

weight of each word in line, Pascal pulls us down from the surface of our day-to-day lives and into the underbelly of existence. Down here, he shows us the

of existence. Down here, he shows us the despair, the depravity, and the vacantness of humanity, a museum of existential horrors. Pascal argued that

existential horrors. Pascal argued that people generally avoid this museum at all costs. Nearly everything we do is to

all costs. Nearly everything we do is to add more layers and distance between us and this realm. All of man's unhappiness comes from his inability to stay peacefully alone in his room. He wrote,

"The Museum of Existential Horrors does not contain skulls or vats of blood, but merely the emptiness of space and time to sit with ourselves and our thoughts."

Pascal writes, "So who does not see it apart from young people whose lives are all noise, diversions and thoughts for the future? But take away their

the future? But take away their diversion and you will see them bored to extinction. Then they feel their nullity

extinction. Then they feel their nullity without recognizing it. For nothing

could be more wretched than to be intolerably depressed as soon as one [music] is reduced to introspection with no means of diversion."

Crucially for Pascal, the initial point of facing up to the wretchedness and barrenness of our condition is to know ourselves fully and accurately. An

accurate self-conception is the first step to greatness and salvation. He

writes, "Man's greatness comes from knowing that he is wretched. A tree does not know it is wretched. Thus, it is wretched to know that one is wretched.

But there is greatness in knowing one is wretched." We overcome ourselves and our

wretched." We overcome ourselves and our condition not by being something other than what we are but by recognizing what we are and working toward living well within this condition. For Pascal, we

live well within this condition through God. In the words of historian Michael

God. In the words of historian Michael Sigru, Pascal's idea is you have to make individuals fear for the good of their soul. Make them fear the possibility

soul. Make them fear the possibility that they're not going to get what religion might offer to them. You have

to show them how wretched they are.

Pascal wants to inspire in the reader a kind of terror, a kind of morbid hatred of the nuts and bolts, tables and chairs, facts of the human condition.

Though explicitly for Pascal, the cure to the ailment of being is God, more fundamentally, it is the search for God.

And deeper than that, arguably it is really the search for a cure. Deviating

from Pascal, this cure need not be God.

It need not be religious. It need not even be spiritual in the traditional sense. Arguably, God is merely a

sense. Arguably, God is merely a stand-in [music] for transcendent hope and meaning beyond reason. And perhaps

that could be found in reason or meaning or hope itself. It can be [music] existence itself.

One of Pascal's most famous arguments is what is known as Pascal's wager. In

short, the argument claims it is a better bet to believe in God than to not. [music] This is because if you're

not. [music] This is because if you're right and God exists, you gain eternal salvation in heaven. If you're wrong, you only lose some finite earthly pleasures, which for Pascal are

ultimately trivial relative to the stakes. And even if God doesn't exist,

stakes. And even if God doesn't exist, Pascal argues that living as if he does leads to a more stable and meaningful inner experience [music] here on Earth.

He doesn't see this argument as proof of God, but rather proof that it's worth searching for him, the hope in striving toward him. However, could not the same

toward him. However, could not the same fundamental argument and wager be applied to the [music] search for the value and meaning of earthly human existence without belief in God? Could

not a compelling wager look like this?

It is a better bet to believe this life is meaningful, valuable, and good in and of itself, and that this life is all there is. Because if you're right, then

there is. Because if you're right, then you win the reward of experiencing the only time you have as positively as possible. Not with disdain or dejection,

possible. Not with disdain or dejection, not with the hope in holding out for something else, but with the embrace and love for this right now. If you're wrong and there is some kind of afterlife,

then you also gain the upside of whatever that may be, which surely no human can know enough about to predict the terms of. Likewise, this is not proof that human existence is meaningful and worthwhile in and of itself, but it

is proof [music] that it is worth striving toward this belief, toward creating its truth.

Pascal wanted to compel us toward God by showing us how terrible our condition is. But in the process, arguably what he

is. But in the process, arguably what he really showed us is how strong we are or can be. He shows us that everything

can be. He shows us that everything isn't and won't be okay. And yet somehow we can and continue to endure. Whether

through God or something God-shaped, we can create and imagine worlds and ideas worth living in. The morbid absurdities of our condition, the frenzied nature of our lives, our anxieties, our

depravities, it is all real. It is all in everyone. But we can survive these

in everyone. But we can survive these qualities and the knowledge thereof and still be compelled to seek redemption regardless of any religious belief. This

profound impulse and ability is embodied in Pon and it is found in every instance where the human psyche confronts the hardship of existence and continues forward overcoming, transmuting [music]

and justifying.

In the end, Pascal's incomplete book beautifully [music] and poignantly completed his life's work. The

apheristic structure is a nod to the fragmented nature of thought, a long-standing literary format in philosophy, and the disordered progression of his life. and it is likely what ultimately contributed to

its large-scale enduring readability and success. His work and legacy have and

success. His work and legacy have and continue to show us that no matter how pessimistic we might be, no matter how bad [music] things might seem, the striving for hope, the foraging for answers and meaning and redemption

[music] endures within us whether we like it or not, whether it makes any sense or not. History is a constant reinvention of hope and meaning in all forms mythological technological and

philosophical. We keep questioning,

philosophical. We keep questioning, answering, [music] building, destroying.

Questioning answering building destroying. We can't help ourselves from

destroying. We can't help ourselves from helping ourselves.

Pascal had a very eclectic range of [music] interests: math, science, philosophy, theology, and psychology.

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And of course, as always, thank you so much for watching in general, and see you next video.