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“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” -- Blaise Pascal
According to Pascal, we fear the silence of existence, we dread boredom and instead choose aimless distraction, and we can’t help but run from the problems of our emotions into the false comforts of the mind.
The issue at the root, essentially, is that we never learn the art of solitude.
...
our aversion to solitude is really an aversion to boredom.At its core, it’s not necessarily that we are addicted to a TV set because there is something uniquely satisfying about it, just like we are not addicted to most stimulants because the benefits outweigh the downsides. Rather, what we are really addicted to is a state of not-being-bored.
Deep thoughts by Blaise Pascal. Was he right? Are we addicted to not-being-bored? Is boredom good for us?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Wednesday November 28 2018, @03:20AM (10 children)
I think that early humans who were continually driven to learn, explore, and improve their situation had a survival advantage over those content with their situation.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 5, Insightful) by pipedwho on Wednesday November 28 2018, @03:29AM (3 children)
I think you're on to something. When the mind is quiet, it becomes very creative and receptive to learning. Early humans would have had many opportunities for quiet contemplation.
Modern day humans are now at the mercy of externalities that relentless and forcibly intrude into their lives preying on these mental instincts. It takes great effort to push these temptations aside.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 28 2018, @11:49AM (2 children)
so why do we have open plan offices?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday November 28 2018, @04:15PM
-$$$ per person spent by company or at least -$$$ per person for this quarter.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by rondon on Wednesday November 28 2018, @04:20PM
They are cheaper to do and easier to micromanage
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 28 2018, @05:25AM (1 child)
Parent nailed it.
People are not plants. We are doers who exploit opportunities. It's a sign of intelligence.
A goldfish, on the other hand, is never bored in its bowl.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Blymie on Wednesday November 28 2018, @11:59AM
What?! How do you know? Intelligence != capacity for boredom. Otherwise the more intelligent, the more bored!
Or are you stipulating that there's a cut off. This level of intelligence = able to be bored, less than = not?
Or is it a specific gene? Much like object persistence, boredom is a capacity that only occurs in certain species?
For all we know, we're *torturing* fish with boredom.
Hmm.
You know, the more I think of this...
I think anything has a capacity to be bored. It might be as simple as... a stressful feeling, just sitting around doing nothing. That doesn't require intelligence.
And if creatures weren't bored, then why do they ever move when safe and fed. For example you have a large fish tank, but the gold fish will swim around, look at things, pick up gravel and spit it out, poke at plants it can't eat.
If boredom didn't exist, then wouldn't it simply sit -- safe and happy, directly under the place you feed it every day? All day long? Forever?
I think boredom is more complex than just intellect. I think it's a drive, a need to explore.. as you say, but for a variety of things.
For example:
- there is a need to seek genetically diverse mates.. boredom helps via exploration
- sex drive (just finding a mate) requires moving around a bit
- some fish do have territories, and will often fight for them
Well, anyhow. This is a silly topic overall, but I had to complain about such a generic assertion.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Wednesday November 28 2018, @06:23AM (2 children)
That hypothesis seems reasonable. The question then becomes (no joke this time) as to whether or not individual contemplation aids in learning, improves exploration strategies and gives opportunities to envision ways to improve their situation.
I posit that the answer to that question is "yes."
All the same, there are times when simply acting without contemplation is required. However, I'd further posit that if one has take the time for contemplation ahead of time, acting immediately becomes easier rather than harder.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by ilsa on Wednesday November 28 2018, @07:37PM (1 child)
I agree with what you said. However there is also the emotional factor. How many of us are genuinely afraid of being left to contemplate our own thoughts? Especially those that have depression or anxiety issues, not having something to occupy our minds is absolutely terrifying because we know what our thoughts will do if we don't have specific tasks to occupy them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Wednesday November 28 2018, @09:09PM
That's a difficult issue. These days, we have some drugs which can assist in helping one relax. Back in the Paleo/Neolithic periods, that was likely more of a problem.
At the same time, even today we have social groups that include those who are comfortable with their own thoughts and those who have negative ideation (Catastrophizing, anyone?). As long as there is balance within such a social group, everyone can work together to create a gestalt that helps create a functional unit which walks the tightrope between contemplation and action.
Without such a balance, we often end up with dysfunctional, and even potentially dangerous, groups.
I think that's within the normal range of human behavior and experience.
Humans are social animals and have been since before our ancestors learned to walk upright. As such, we rely on each other's strengths to minimize our weaknesses.
All that said, dealing with anxiety/depression is difficult. In addition to the drugs we have today, there are millenia-old coping mechanisms (spottily implemented and frequently ineffective) involving social and familial groups from which we seem to have gotten away.
At one time, odd Uncle Bob (or aunt Judy or even mom) was tolerated and loved, because they were part of the group. That has its downsides, however, as whole families may suffer from such maladies, which may well end up creating really dangerous individuals. These days, we tend to shy away from and isolate those whose behavior and affect are outside what we consider to be norms.
I'm not suggesting that we stop using anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs, but reducing/eliminating the stigma associated with mental illness, along with a recognition that we are a social species and we rise and fall based on the performance of *all* of us, could improve things significantly.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday November 28 2018, @11:48PM
It's mostly still that way, too. For humanity. And nature generally does not allow plateaus - it's either anabolism or catabolism... stable states are always undermined by entropy.
This sig for rent.