Imagine somebody who tries to pass their boredom every day by gambling. Pascal says, "Well, give this man all of the money that he could have won on the condition that he can't play anymore, and you'll make him unhappy." So he doesn't just want to win the money; he wants to play the game. Okay, says Pascal, allow him to play the game, but he's guaranteed not to win the money. You're also going to make him upset. What is it then?
You need something like not having the thing desired along with the illusion that once you achieve the thing, it's going to make you happy. But because having the thing on its own isn't actually going to make you happy, you also need to not have it.
You know, it used to be that when you woke up, it was a gamble. You didn't know if you were going to have a shelter over your head; you didn't know if you were going to have food to eat. Every single day, the thing reset. Now you've got the money without the game; you've got the food, you've got the shelter, you're fine. So what people are doing is they're seeking out the game without the prize.
This is why religion does it so well because religion is the definition of something which you don't have now and for your entire life will not have, and yet believe that you can have and think that that thing is desirable.