Bored? Research indicates it may be your own darn fault.

[Nords]

Scientific American: Bored?

Posted in the spirit of countering the perpetual complaints "But what would I do all day?!?" and "But I'd be so bored and unfulfilled!!"

Quote:

Virtually everyone gets bored once in a while. Most of us chalk it up to a dull environment. “The most common way to define boredom in Western culture is ‘having nothing to do,’ ” says psychologist Stephen Vodanovich of the University of West Florida. And indeed, early research into the effects of boredom focused on people forced to perform monotonous tasks, such as working a factory assembly line. But boredom is not merely an inherent property of the circumstances, researchers say. Rather this perception is subjective and rooted in aspects of consciousness. Levels of boredom vary among people: some individuals are far less prone to ennui than others—and some, such as extroverts, are more susceptible to this feeling.

Skimpy data but nonetheless intriguing:

Quote:

Developing ways to cope with boredom may even help cure other ills. For example, some research hints that if former drug addicts learn to deal effectively with boredom, they are less likely to relapse. In an ongoing study of 156 addicts at a methadone clinic at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, Todman found that the addicts’ reported level of boredom was the only reliable indicator of whether they would stay clean.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i don't recall ever being bored. put me in a white-washed room with no windows for the day and i'd remain thoroughly entertained. i always thought that boredom has less to do with the outside and more to do within.

i hear & see online the word "bored" a lot these days. i sometimes go to online chat sites like gay.com to maybe meet someone (hey, ya never know where you'll find love). very often i see typed onscreen "bored, looking to hook-up." each time i think to myself, why would i want to hook-up with someone who's bored? that doesn't sound fun.

just now did a craiglist m4m search for the word bored. in december alone it comes up 29 times. bored in boca. bored in deerfield. bored & horny. bored at north ridge. anyone else bored? (another) bored and horny. bored and home alone. bored and horny on vacation. 21 and bored. 28 male bored. bored cub looking. so bored. bored at train station. (i swear i'm not making these up.) bored looking to hang out. bored--what is there to do? yikes.

somehow i guess these people think that being bored is a desirable trait worthy of advertisement. i thought it was a generation gap thing. so i asked someone who just used the word if bored still means bored. i thought it maybe it had taken on a new meaning but he assured me otherwise. i didn't bother asking him out to dinner. i figured i wouldn't just be paying for the meal, but that i'd have to entertain my bored date as well. no thank you.

"boredom is rage spread thin"~~paul tillich

[audreyh1]

Fascinating!

Well, I guess one could conclude that the ads are a way for bored people to find each other?

Are two bored people hanging out together still bored?

it really makes me wonder.....

Audrey

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I sometimes hear "bored" when what is really meant is, "someone pay attention to me."

On internet forums, the equivalent is the troll, or perhaps the chronically antagonistic and hostile poster. Bad posters with nothing real to say, just planting seeds of hostility so someone replies to them, makes them the center of attention for a fleeting feeling of engagement and contact.

Like publicity, even negative contact is better than no contact = bored.

[W2R]

Learning to entertain oneself is a great accomplishment.

I remember when I was nine or ten years old, continually yowling at my mother, "MOM!!! I'M BORED"!! (Her solution was to tell me that I could clean up my room, if I was bored; that cured the problem relatively quickly since I would make an effort to find something fun to do, instead of whining to her). Like Rich said, a lot of that type of behavior just arises from a desire for attention. Even worse, a lot of it is wanting to be entertained.

Being entertained is passive. But entertaining oneself is active - - you have to think of what would be fun. That takes effort, but you end up doing something that you really want to do.

I cannot imagine being bored in ER. If I am, I am sure I can find something more fun to do than going back to work.

[Sandy]

Funny, DS started that whine as I opened this thread. I also suggest the cleaning and chores routine, which comes back with a new whine - no make it something fun to do.

He is on his own. I am busy entertaining myself.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Learning to entertain oneself is a great accomplishment. I remember when I was nine or ten years old, continually yowling at my mother, "MOM!!! I'M BORED"!! (Her solution was to tell me that I could clean up my room, if I was bored; that cured the problem relatively quickly since I would make an effort to find something fun to do, instead of whining to her). Like Rich said, a lot of that type of behavior just arises from a desire for attention. Even worse, a lot of it is wanting to be entertained. Being entertained is passive. But entertaining oneself is active - - you have to think of what would be fun. That takes effort, but you end up doing something that you really want to do. I cannot imagine being bored in ER. If I am, I am sure I can find something more fun to do than going back to work.

I spent much of my childhood on farms; I learned never to say I was bored. There's always **** that needs shoveling.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

this really is so funny. checking to see if the phenomenon was just a local gay thing i checked out minneapolis craigslist m4w: 115 bored entries for december. you ready for these?

bored at work. broken leg, bored stiff. anyone else awake and bored? very bored tonight. bored on xmas. bored on christmas eve. bored over christmas. bored after a movie. (again, i am not making these up.) bored! so very bored. if you are really bored read on. are you as bored as me? bored lets chat. bored on sunday. take a look, you're bored, and hey it has a photo. bored as hell at work. bored and in a rut. bored on this snowy night. easy going bored.

that's the one i'll be going with, easy going bored.

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum i don't recall ever being bored. put me in a white-washed room with no windows for the day and i'd remain thoroughly entertained. i always thought that boredom has less to do with the outside and more to do within.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Want2retire Learning to entertain oneself is a great accomplishment..............I cannot imagine being bored in ER. If I am, I am sure I can find something more fun to do than going back to work.

I don't ever remember a time when I was bored....not even as a kid. I always found things to do to keep myself entertained. I remember endless hours, days, even weeks, playing with nothing more than sticks, some string, and rocks. Heck, give me a stick and mud puddle, and I was off in my own little world. Or I'd find a pile of dirt or gravel to play on. Or I could just kick back and watch clouds go by........

Hey....wait.......I still do those things! Playing in the gardens with the dirt.....landscaping...sitting on the patio watching clouds float past!!! I've come full circle.....I've rediscovered my 1st childhood! Endless days of play!!!

I've been ER'd for 9 months (next week), and can honestly say that I've not been bored for even one minute! Like LG4NB said, "....boredom has less to do with the outside and more to do within."

[unclemick]

The day after this coming new year - I will have successfully completed my 14th year of aggressively, with great enthusiasm - doing nothing in particular.

And it may be rough - but I plan to keep it up as long as possible.

Jan 2006 I switched to full autopilot - Target Retirement(auto rebalancing, sliding asset mix with age) with auto deduct to checking.

Charging forth into each day with no plan and only getting half done by the end of the day is fun - not boring.

heh heh heh -

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick Charging forth into each day with no plan and only getting half done by the end of the day is fun - not boring. heh heh heh -

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about!

[Martha]

From the article:

Others, meanwhile, have characterized boredom as the antithesis of something called flow, a state characterized by effortless attention, focus and absorption in a task, akin to being “in the zone”

I have had many experiences of "being in the zone." Working on just the right project at work. Playing in an orchestra. Truly the antithesis of boredom.

[deserat]

I get bored -however, it's usually when there are lots of things to do, but I don't want to engage at the moment. Activity does tend to change that feeling. I do think, however, that today there is an expectation that one should be 'entertained.' When I read about the antics of the Spears or Hilton, I realize they are probably bored....they have the money to do anything in the world and have probably done most of it -what's left? They must learn to cultivate their minds and explore that....however, they've probably had most everything 'spoon-fed' to them, so they don't understand how to exercise that part of their physiology/selfd.

As for flow - that is amazing as well - one loses sense of time - it tends to fly then.

[maddythebeagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deserat I get bored -however, it's usually when there are lots of things to do, but I don't want to engage at the moment.

I think that is part of it also...having too many things on the plate leads to a lack of motivation....

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan There's always **** that needs shoveling.

Much like corporate America...

[bright eyed]

in some cultures instead of being bored - you are "lonely" - in most cases, i think it makes sense - in particular lazy's post...

[Martha]

This conversation reminds me of the Dunbar character in Catch-22. Your life will feel much longer if you occupy yourself with boring tasks.

"Do you know how long a year takes when it's going away?" Dunbar repeated to Clevenger. "This long." He snapped his fingers. "A second ago you were stepping into college with your lungs full of fresh air. Today you're an old man.""Old? I'm not old""You're inches away from death every time you go on a mission. How much older can you be at your age? A half minute before that you were stepping into high school, and an unhooked brassiere was as close as you ever hoped to get to Paradise. Only a fifth of a second before that you were a small kid with a ten-week summer vacation that lasted a hundred thousand years and still ended too soon. Zip! They go rocketing by so fast. How the hell else are you ever going to slow time down?" Dunbar was almost angry when he finished."Well, maybe it is true," Clevinger conceded unwillingly in a subdued tone. "Maybe a long life does have to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?""I do," Dunbar told him."Why?" Clevinger asked."What else is there?"



Dunbar (Catch-22 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

[aenlighten]

you should be doing something else. It passes quickly when you do.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Your life will feel much longer if you occupy yourself with boring tasks.

actually i think life is longer when filled with details. to not just count potato chips all day long, but to notice the edges, the coloring, the texture of each individual potato chip. picture running along a smooth wall. now picture running along a corrugated one. you've run the same distance but the smooth wall went faster while the corrugated one lasted longer. in the zone, time doesn't lessen; it stops.

just like boredom, the zone has less to do with what you are doing and more to do with how much attention you pay to the details of the task. in the zone, awareness is expanded so that even subtle coincidence is noticed. but when you are bored the details pass you by, you zone out, life disconnects. instead of escaping time, you become trapped by it.

[BOBOT]

Check out this great idea!

Le Pétomane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia