And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
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And so, I named my website palecast.net. The general idea of the phrase "pale cast of thought" in Shakespeare's Hamlet (full text) is that the shadow or taint of thought dulls man's ability to act. Mankind is weak in the face of uncertainty. As an overthinker, I identify with the tragedy of a pale cast of thought.
Another reason I chose palecast.net is because the word "cast" has such rich and varied meanings. After looking at the dictionary.com entry for cast just a second ago, I see that there are even more meanings than I realized. There are two additional meanings in particular that struck me when I first conceived of the name. The first is "an impression formed in a mold," and the second is "the actors in a theatrical presentation." I will let you overthink on what it means to consider artwork a "pale cast of thought" in these two senses.
Another name I considered for the website is sleepofreason.org. Maybe some other day I'll explain why I was thinking of that name...
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In April 2006 there was a solo show at the Fredric Snitzer Gallery in Miami by Gavin Perry. He titled his exhibit The Sleep of Reason Breeds Monsters. In addition to liking Gavin Perry's art, I identified with the idea of the sleep of reason breeding monsters.
As I was developing my thoughts on the concept, I discovered that the title is actually borrowed from a 19th century etching by Francisco Goya called El Sueño de la Razon Produce Monstruos. Learning about the Goya etching shed new light on what "sleep of reason" can mean. Like with "pale cast," there are alternate meanings.
One interpretation is "when reason in sleeping" or "when reason takes a holiday." I believe this to be Goya's intended meaning given the intellectual movements of the time. Many philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment believed in the power of reason to ease and eliminate the ills of society. The absence of reason gives birth to the demons and monsters in this world.
Another way to interpret the phrase is to consider reason itself a state of sleep. I read the show theme with this interpretation in mind at first. I think that true human progress requires both reason and faith. To rely on reason alone is to exist in a state of sleep. It can be the first step to becoming less than human. One need only look at the horrible events of the 20th century to see what the logical ends of rationalism can be.