These days, everyone seeks constant and immediate stimulation. Every nanosecond must be filled, every silence broken, every reflection interrupted. When nothing happens, the iPhone fills up time with its dopamine-addled version of nothing.
The rule is to do everything possible to avoid boredom. One must constantly be doing something…and nothing. Within rushed schedules, people experience the double sensation of having no time to do anything and doing nothing with their time. The result is frustration, stress or depression.
The Positive Side of Boredom
This constant rush to fill time is harmful. Some scientists now say that inactivity and silence play a crucial role in life.
Indeed, boredom can be a positive influence on a person’s development. Although it may initially cause affliction, it also prompts people to disengage and forces the mind to find different solutions. Boredom’s suffering is therapeutic and can help individuals cope with life.
Such a conclusion about boredom could not be more contrary to the times. The present culture favors a mania for constant action and a nausea for reflection. However, boredom can help people cope with reality.
What Happens When People Become Bored
Boredom is defined as the state of being weary and restless due to a lack of interest. It occurs when events or objects fail to attract the individual for a variety of reasons. The brain disengages, and the person loses focus and feels restless. This general feeling causes sadness and listlessness.
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When people experience boredom, the traffic in the brain’s neural networks diminishes. The stimuli are not sufficient to maintain activity.
Boredom then activates a defense mechanism to deal with situations when outside influences appear dull and uninspiring. Boring situations trigger alarms that prompt the brain to enter a default mode, shifting attention from external stimuli to internal thoughts and self-reflection. The resulting introspection prompts the mind to seek creative ways to deal with the crisis, which are often outside the box.
Thus, the brain naturally knows how to cope with boredom, even though it may involve some discomfort. Modern lifestyles try to suppress periods of boredom, which only makes the boredom worse and then requires treatment.
Fighting Boredom With Over-stimulation
Indeed, instead of looking inward to deal with boredom, most people look outward by seeking information overload and over-stimulation. They adopt fast-paced and extended schedules that exclude those necessary moments of introspection.
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This constant stimulation and over-scheduling can be harmful to the nervous system. An overwhelmed nervous system cannot process all the information, which in turn causes a heightened state of tension. It also prevents the simple reset of the nervous system found in introspection.
Being Bored Can Have Benefits
Occasional boredom can be a vital counterbalance to an overstimulated world. Health researcher Michelle Kennedy, on the site “The Conversation,” writes that boredom can present benefits that today’s busy individuals overlook. She invites people to “embrace the pause.”
People develop skills and abilities in the spaces between activities. She cites studies indicating improvements in creativity, independence in thinking, and increased self-esteem.
Periods of unstructured time (without devices) can help re-balance the nervous system, promote rest and initiate emotional recharge.
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The Cultural Side of Boredom
Without using this time to reflect upon and interpret experiences, even the most organized life can become a jumble of insignificant events, passive entertainment, and mechanical routines. Life becomes reduced to sensation, simultaneity, and immediacy. Depression thrives, and culture dies.
One way to fight this destruction of culture is to utilize unstructured time periods. During these times, individuals are forced to make sense of what is happening and apply great effort. Thus, from the doldrums of boredom comes the imaginative initiative that creates a sense of dream and wonder. This is the foundation for culture, as it invites people to idealize the world and the situations around them and imagine ways to make them better.
Springing from those unstructured and even arid intervals come those proportional and non-boring spiritual pleasures—joys like conversation, art, and silence.
Contemplation and prayer further invite individuals to reflect on God and the wonder of creation. Inside this pondered leisure, a rich culture is born and cultivated.
Amid the distractions of screens and devices, there is no time for such considerations. It is little wonder that there is so much anxiety and stress and so little culture.
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