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posted by martyb on Friday November 03 2017, @04:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the brought-to-you-by-Elon-Musk's-Boring-Company dept.

Is boredom necessary to our survival?

Every emotion has a purpose—an evolutionary benefit," says Sandi Mann, a psychologist and the author of The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom Is Good. "I wanted to know why we have this emotion of boredom, which seems like such a negative, pointless emotion."

That's how Mann got started in her specialty: boredom. While researching emotions in the workplace in the 1990s, she discovered the second most commonly suppressed emotion after anger was—you guessed it—boredom. "It gets such bad press," she said. "Almost everything seems to be blamed on boredom."

As Mann dived into the topic of boredom, she found that it was actually "very interesting." It's certainly not pointless. Wijnand van Tilburg from the University of Southampton explained the important evolutionary function of that uneasy, awful feeling this way: "Boredom makes people keen to engage in activities that they find more meaningful than those at hand."

"Imagine a world where we didn't get bored," Mann said. "We'd be perpetually excited by everything—raindrops falling, the cornflakes at breakfast time." Once past boredom's evolutionary purpose, Mann became curious about whether there might be benefits beyond its contribution to survival. "Instinctively," she said, "I felt that we all need a little boredom in our lives."

Precede creative tasks with the most intensely boring activities you can devise if you want to have the best ideas.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday November 03 2017, @05:51AM (10 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 03 2017, @05:51AM (#591554) Journal

    Kids this days aren't interested in boobs any longer.**

    ---

    ** Maybe with the remarkable exception of TMB.

    (grin)

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by aristarchus on Friday November 03 2017, @08:20AM (9 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Friday November 03 2017, @08:20AM (#591585) Journal

    ** Maybe with the remarkable exception of TMB.

    Of course you realize, TMB is not a kid, he is well into creepy old guy territory, except to you gay men. And, it is not all that remarkable! See my rejected submission on the Alt-right's Female Problem. TMB is right in the middle of this, with his Red Pillar showing! Oh, the huge Manatees!

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday November 03 2017, @08:56AM (8 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 03 2017, @08:56AM (#591594) Journal

      You do know that some men don't ever grow up** - from my vantage point, TMB is one of them.

      ** (if you don't know it yet, use a mirror, magister, have been quite a long time since your biological age was childhood - large grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday November 03 2017, @09:53AM (7 children)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Friday November 03 2017, @09:53AM (#591609) Journal

        OMG. The Mighty Buzzard. If you change the initial letters, divide them by the relevant prime, and then head out for the brightest star, straight on till morning . . . TMB is Peter Pan, he does not want to grow up, he does not want to go to school (he has affirmed that several times),

        Just to learn to be a parrot,
        ----Just to learn to be a parrot
        And recite a silly rule.
        ----And recite a silly rule
        If growing up means
        It would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,
        I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
        Not me!
        Not I,
        Not me!
        Not me!

        http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-wont-grow-up-lyrics-peterpan.html [metrolyrics.com]

        Explains so much, really. Are all libertarians just really Peter Pans?

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday November 03 2017, @10:24AM (4 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 03 2017, @10:24AM (#591618) Journal

          OMG.

          Now you get it.

          Explains so much, really. Are all libertarians just really Peter Pans?

          Do you find a better explanation for the infantilism they show?

          (btw, have you used that mirror yet? grin)

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 4, Funny) by aristarchus on Friday November 03 2017, @10:33AM (3 children)

            by aristarchus (2645) on Friday November 03 2017, @10:33AM (#591620) Journal

            Oh, c0lo, you benefit so much from being able to post when the nattering nabobs of negativism (Americans) are asleep. Mirrors. Oh, yes, but a mirrors at my age only show how old I am, and are not terribly useful at showing how much I have learned over that same time span. But your Critique, oh Paduwan, I sense has some other point? Out with it. We are men of ideas, scurrying about the bush does not become us!

            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday November 03 2017, @11:50AM (2 children)

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 03 2017, @11:50AM (#591633) Journal

              I sense has some other point? Out with it.

              How you you think your skirmishes with TMB look from outside? "But... he started" "No, he started". That's quite far from... "the quarrel of the philosopher with the world".

              The latter has a certain fresh childish aroma in itself: the... mmm... innocent belief that a philosopher can change the world during his lifetime. Not gonna happen nowadays, the humans are too proud of their "achievements" to think they still have plenty of question unanswered. Worse, they don't know they have these questions and feverishly club each other with their answers of choice.

              Btw, a certain philosopher I sorta know behaves like he harbour this "have enough answers for many lives and lifetimes" illusion, if you know what I mean (if you don't, here's in brief. I'd suggest to stop offering answers and demonstrations, magister, this world suffers from an inflation of answers and a scarcity of questions, especially the "relevant questions" kind.
              ---
              ** I tried to avoid "naive" as the term to use. Did I manage?

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday November 03 2017, @05:57PM (1 child)

                by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday November 03 2017, @05:57PM (#591778) Journal

                You guys bored yet?

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @06:35PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @06:35PM (#591795)

                  didnt someone say boobs earlier? i read this for the article but i am still disappoint

        • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday November 03 2017, @03:51PM (1 child)

          by Sulla (5173) on Friday November 03 2017, @03:51PM (#591708) Journal

          Its the alt-animal conspiracy. TMB will do anything it takes to protect animal rights even if it means the death of thousands of humans. Just the other day he was going out of his way to eat SanFran tier vegan free/fair trade beans with peppers. When offered he REFUSED to add bacon because it "hurts the animals" and "supports the continued human supremacy movement". It has really gone far enough, for us pet haters there no place to express ourselves online without being attacked. We can't even tell someone that having a cat in the house when pregnant is unhealthy due to proven parasites. If we aren't careful these pet lovers are going to rule this country and force everyone into servitude to the cat master-race. Do you really want to have your eyes eaten when you sleep? Absurd. On top of it all TMB is LITERALLY ONE THIRD BUZZARD! Can you believe that? A Bird! The Alt-ANIMAL conspiracy must end this site is getting overrun

          --
          Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @05:18PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @05:18PM (#591749)

            A for effort I guess.