Trapped in an Age of Reflection

According to Soren Kierkegaard, there are ages of reflection and ages of passion. Imagine, he says, that someone throws a gold doubloon onto the middle of a frozen pond. It is unclear how thick the ice is and whether it is safe to walk on. In an age of passion, the onlookers will be excited: they want to see who is going to run out and get the doubloon. However, in an age of reflection, they immediately start to criticize any prospective doubloon-retriever. They murmur amongst themselves— “It was practically fifty degrees yesterday.” “The ice just looks thin.” “Doesn’t this idiot know that someone fell in last year and almost died?”