Which will it be? Down or up?

"It may be that the [seventeenth-century] Pascalian concept [of diversion (divertissement)] will [only] be fully appreciated [(prenne toute son ampleur)] when technological advances, [and] those in cybernetics in particular, free up for a universalized culture [various forms of] leisure [(des loisirs)], while multiplying the possibilities for human action.  A choice will at that time present itself [(Une option dès lors s'offrira)] between the descent [(pente)] of a world diverted and doomed to catastrophe, and a world recalled to itself, in which liberation from [the various forms of] servitude [(des servitudes)] will allow for a spiritual ascent [(montée)]."

     François Marty, "Divertissement," Dictionnaire de la spiritualité 3 (1957):  1370 (1364-1370).

One cannot be content to reduce the tendency to diversion [(divertissement)] to an evil penchant for sensible multiplicity. . . [E]nthusiasts of the absolute like Augustine and Pascal [(Sans doute, on comprend que des passionnés d'absolu, comme Augustin et Pascal)] (see the nuances of Pensées 140) placed the accent on this negative aspect.  But it is necessary to recognize a positive value in the sensible and manifold universe in which our activity unfolds; it is the way by which we return to God; it is also [a] creature of God to be redeemed and sanctified.  One sees how diversions (plural) [(les divertissements)] and every human activity can be something other than a means of diversion (singular) [(divertissement)]:  they are an element necessary to the Redemption of the Universe.

On the distinction between "les divertissements" and "le divertissement", see col. 1364:

Diversions [(les divertissements)] can be one of the manifestations of diversion [(du divertissement)].  See DS 2, cols. 2374-2375.

This is helpful, too:

Distraction . . . is a weakening [(fléchissement)] of attention; diversion, a weakening of intention.