deepstash
Beta
A brief history of boredom
Thus, it seems that boredom helps regulate our behaviour and stops us from getting stuck in unrewarding situations.
109 SAVES
484 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
6
Key Ideas
We may tend to think of boredom as a response to monotonous activities. But boredom isn't this clearcut.
Research reveals that there's a significant variation in how much bo...
Boredom is sometimes described as the plague of modern society.
Psychologists differ in their definition of boredom.
In most of the ancient literature and philosophy, boredom is considered a personal, social and moral weakness.
Philosophers talk about boredom as proof that life is essentially meaningless,...
Boredom is a signal to your body that the current activity is not meaningful and we should be doing something else, or be somewhere else. Many recent studies have associated boredom with the urge to flaunt social distancing rules and quarantine regulations.
Boredom by itself is a neutral signal but can affect a person in varied ways depending on his life situation and the current environment.
Boredom by itself does not feel great, but just like pain, it is a body’s emotional call to action. It nudges us to look for an alternate set of behaviours and try to add more significance to our activities.
We normally try to balance paying attention and finding meaning, wanting to do something but not wanting to do anything in particular.
11
Key Ideas
Boredom is not characterised by the absence of desire. It involves desperately wanting to do something, but not finding anything that can satisfy that restlessness.
When you experience boredom, it is telling you that you've become superfluous and pointless and that you need to reclaim the authorship of your life.
Psychologists call this a crisis of agency. You've become passive and let life happen to you instead of being engaged with the world on your terms, using your skills and talents in a purposeful way.
Proneness to boredom is the result of difficulties with self-regulation. Those who are inclined to boredom may feel that boredom is a prison.
Instead of using boredom as a passage to something new, they get stuck and struggle to move on, leading to depression and anxiety, problems with drug and alcohol use, and gambling.