They’ll go snort an eight ball of cocaine and play in traffic…
I didn't find any meaning in reliable online dictionaries.
Is this synonymous with go play in traffic?
To go away and leave one alone because what is being done or said is
very irritating.
Could you help me please?
The fuller text is:
But the only thing that frees us is that truth: You and I and everyone
we know will die, and little to nothing that we do will ever matter on
a cosmic scale. And while some people fear that this truth will
liberate them from all responsibility, that they’ll go snort an eight
ball of cocaine and play in traffic, the reality is that this truth
scares them because it liberates them to responsibility. It means that
there’s no reason to not love ourselves and one another. That there’s
no reason to not treat ourselves and our planet with respect. That
there’s no reason to not live every moment of our lives as though it
were to be lived in eternal recurrence.
Best Answer
In this context, I think the author is simply saying:
The reason we might tell someone to "go play in traffic" when they are annoying us is that we want them to go away and not come back. I think the phrase is used in jest; if taken literally, it's almost like we are saying that we hope they will go get seriously injured. (I'd recommend most learners avoid the go play in traffic idiom.)
Similarly, and eight-ball of cocaine is a pretty large amount (3.5 grams), and according to one website:
So, your sentence begins with:
In other words, because they feel like nothing they do will prevent their ultimate, eventual death, they simply won't exercise caution while living. The author could have just as well said:
However, that paraphrasing is more bland than the original. I don't think the author is using established idioms per se, but rather simply furnishing some colorful examples.