Bertrand Russell describes impersonal interests as, not the major interests that our lives are built around, but the little interests that offer us an escape from the mundane, tedious, tenseness of everyday life. Unhappiness can be caused by our inability to interested in anything that is not of every day practicality. When are minds are constantly worried about the things like when homework is done or what needs to be done at work, we never get the chance to shut down and recharge. The result is anxiety, nervousness, and/or frustration. This cycle becomes a slippery slope. According to Russell, as man (or woman) gets more tired, he loses interests in his external interests, and he then loses the relief he was getting from said interests and becomes more tired. Russell stats that impersonal interests should not involve will and quick decisions, again the point is to kind of shut down and relax. Also impersonal interests should not have financial risks, such as gambling or be too excitable that they produce emotional fatigue, like following baseball or football. It seems that everyone will encounter some hardships in life, whether its a death in the family, financial hardships, or a broken heart. In this cases it is easy to get absorbed and fall into a dark, dismal abyss. Obviously we are expected to grieve, we are human after all, but becoming overwhelmed can be avoided. Becoming interested in something outside that cause of anxiety can, according to Russell, create an intense boon. We should do our best to escape those times of grief and fill them with something positive. A man full of vitality and zest will overcome any misfortune, and that vitality can sought by finding positive impersonal interest.
Damon McCook
"...too excitable that they produce emotional fatigue, like following baseball..." You must be talking about Red Sox and Yankees fans, and 12-year olds. Baseball has never been anything but a relief, for me.
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