Thoreau prized receptive idleness over productive use of leisure

Evidence

But there was a wide gulf here between the two men. Emerson, freed from weed pulling, wrote up his journal and composed an essay, and kept up with modern scientific advance. What did Thoreau do with this broad margin of leisure? “I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery … while the birds sang around, or flitted noiseless through the house.” — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 797

Categorization

• XREF: Non-doing as a form of attention ties into the book_so_far theme that preservation is achieved through inaction rather than active management. — connects to: Emerson honestly preferred contemplation over hands-on contact with nature — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 795; Parks are society’s best hope for teaching fruitful use of leisure — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 608; Mass amusement reproduces the mechanized work process in leisure — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 107 (+1 more)
• DEFINE: Contrasts two notions of what counts as legitimate attention to nature — productive journaling versus receptive reverie.

Broader Connections

• Mass amusement reproduces the mechanized work process in leisure #complicates (0.85) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 107
• Boredom enables genuinely new forms of activity #qualifies (0.80) — Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society, 39