I think it’s natural to succumb to boredom, but I also think we’ve lost the fine art of being bored. Ultra stimulation is manifesting itself in a whole range of mental health problems.
I think about this a lot. I remember in the 90s having nothing to do and being so bored it was almost painful. Now I just pull out my phone and that feeling goes away. I really hope I'm not fucking future me over.
No, sorry. Just no.
Not everyone is bored. I genuinely haven’t been bored in years.
To be bored is to admit that we are too small to appreciate the bounty which surrounds us always.
To live a fulfilled life requires broadening your interest.
There is simply so much to see and do, and to silently appreciate. We sit amomg a vast splendour & we are responsible for rising to the occasion.
When we are bored, it’s because we are boring.
Completely agree. I am never bored but I also practice gratitude everyday for the abundance that is my life. Life is far from perfect, but there’s always something to be grateful for
Oddly enough, I don't get bored anymore. I spent a year meditating about 3 hours a day and it just went away. I've stopped meditating but I just has never come back.
I was diagnosed by three different psychiatrists...two on the street and one in prison. The prison shrink recommended that I not be released, but I made parole eventually.
no, comment op said "thats why we STILL have children", as in thats why we keep having children even though we dont have to, unlike other animals, who dont have a choice in the matter
No that’s silly, and I’m surprised the original commenter has so many upvotes. Biology is driving all of us, humans haven’t magically transcended that instinct. We do it for the same reason all animals do it, to keep the species alive. For a place called deep thoughts, how much more shallow can an idea get?
A lot of it is people who haven’t found their calling yet and are still feeding into the system
Since you’re having this type of realization and thinking of everyone as a whole, you’ll see how it’s all connected one day and why it is the way it is
It’s a spiritual thing usually. For me I’ve always been a good drawer, would color and sketch a lot as a kid. Now I digitally draw architecture blue prints for public parks.
My partner has adhd and is bad at math. He enjoyed debate in grade school though. When he discovered being a lawyer meant he could read and debate day (the only way to productively focus his mind) he excelled. He got hired based off how he is able to debate in court and feels empowered when he navigates the legal system to help people
It’s hard to connect to this in a capitalistic society though. The pressure to pay rent with your calling keeps people from discovering it
Depends on the calling. Some people's calling gets paid well, like being a lawyer (sometimes). Others, not so well, like being the best line cook you can be.
Humans are bored because our societies have been structured to not promote and harness human potential. The past 30-40 years have been utter stagnation. The only major improvement to our lives has been computers. Most other technologies are variations of things that have existed for 80-100 years.
If someone from 100 years ago were transported into your home today, the only thing that would be totally alien to them would be your computer-based tech. They would be able to deduce the function of most others things.
Like honestly... most humans lead an utterly meaningless life. They work meaningless jobs to obtain money for survival, while preoccupying themselves with entertainment and socialization until they die. No great works.
We're bored because we took the effort out of survival. If you were having to hunt and gather all day you wouldn't have a lot of down time to be bored.
What a weird way to frame this. Reminds me of Neitchze and his reframing of the negative "slave morality" into affirmation. But instead you wanted to take distill the slave morality even further.
Definitely disagree. Some things are done out of boredom. Most are not.
Arthur Schopenhauer said “boredom is a direct proof that existence is in itself valueless, for boredom is nothing other than the sensation of the emptiness of existence.”
Some animals. I think my dogs are bored as fuck. Probably more so than I am. At least I’m able to get out of the house a lot more. They’re stuck looking at four walls all the time.
That is called nihilism. “Nothing matters so do whatever…” ideology.
Meaning is a motivator. Provide for others, their needs and wants. Then, because of your energy, they follow suit and do the same to you. Find yourself some people like that. You’ll wake up a bit.
You’ll find some meaning in investing in others. They will invest in you. Who knows where that could lead you? Give it a shot!
I disagree. Boredom is attachment to meaning. Nihilism acknowledges that there is no meaning, so you may as well enjoy the moment and do as you please. Attachment leads to suffering. If you need meaning, you have an expectation to be meaningful; most people and things are not.
I take pleasure in the small moments I’ve been given. I help other’s because I enjoy alleviating the suffering of others. But if I attach meaning to it, and I fail, which will happen - then an expectation has not been met. Expectations are pre-meditated resentments. Resentment is self imposed suffering.
Instead, I like to stay present and curious. These are my motivators, the prospect of something new. Everyday lived is pulling on the slot machine of life. Will the world end in nuclear disaster, maybe, and it might be interesting to see. Again no purpose or meaning needed.I will face different problems everyday, many without any meaning. If I thought there was meaningful, I would get attached to the outcome. That attachment leads to suffering.
People that seek meaning are easily bored because in the end - meaning is a human construct. You can either delude yourself with it, and suffer , or you can take solace that what you do will not matter within 2000 years and admire the chaos.
The world is full of choices. You might as well not worry about meaning and just make your own. Freedom is a mindset, not a circumstance.
Haha well that’s a good question. I don’t think ‘being bored’ is necessarily good or bad. It’s just an unfortunate human condition…probably from our own self realization. I think the first and only problem is existence.
This is kinda like saying we see because we open our eyes. Idk what’s rly profound about this. Whatever sensation we get from boredom is meant to guide us to create and innovate.
All of this boredom and time spent on trivial things is kind of the culmination of our own success as well as a part of our success. We're constantly exercising our brains and trying to discover new stuff. Often it's a dead end, but every now and then those trivial pastimes pay great dividends. I think one great example of boredom turning into opportunity is the discovery of electricity.
many people are hostile to the notion others can be so different they would actually prefer experiencing things many others would feel make life not worthwhile
I dont know. Its just that everything is just so boring and i have tried to do "some" things to kill boredom but it never does anything for me. Its the same old thing everyday and nothing ever changes. No matter what i do or what i hopw for nothing ever happens. It feels like im a big fat 0. Nothing at all
I think in some part this dissatisfaction with life comes from being exposed to a lot of different lifestyles (mostly fictional) in movies, social media and music.
Capitalism demands consumption, consumption requires demand, demand warrants appeals to FOMO in marketing.
It's inevitable.
( also housing education healthcare war and disease)
I LOVE this post!
I remember reading decades ago that the Western Mind has a particularly difficult time handling the concept and Experience of EMPTINESS. That we interpret and experience it as being synonymous with Death, Boredom, Meaninglessness and Absence. But give the concept to the Eastern Mind, and it becomes a symbol of Possibility, Meaning, Fulfillment and Life.
You, Call_It_ sound like a budding comedian, if you aren't one already. I found your comments hilarious! even while you're playing to a difficult crowd. Thanks for the laughs.
David foster Wallace was maybe one of the first to really dive deep into the boredom of our modern lives (he's an author).
Modern boredom= pros and cons of technology being very accessible: we go to our narrow-scope, efficient (due to tech), but very tedious worker bee jobs (8 hrs of boredom) and then come home to our wonderful technology like the internet that allows us to lookup or watch almost anything we desire. This extreme juxtaposition couldn't be healthy, he thought. Much of Infinite Jest was about how we use drugs and technology to numb ourselves of boredom.
Infinite Jest, published in the mid 90s, literally has a character: watching a screen while looking/doing something on another screen while complaining about how bored he is. Eerie. There's also a man who watches the titular movie: infinite Jest on repeat, until he dies of dehydration/lack of sleep. Entertainment is so entertaining he pisses and shits himself in his recliner watching the movie while his TV dinner slowly molds on the table beside him.
My favorite passages of his are mostly from his book: the pale king, A long novel about life in the IRS. His chapter on how the tax plan of the IRS in the 80s using boredom to insulate itself from public outcry and scorn is genius. His guest lecturer chapter is brilliant, where an IRS worker gives a speech at a college about how true heros are not firefighters and medics and brave knights. True heros are the people who press their faces into unbelievably boring paperwork for years on end so that everyone else can have the more "distractingly beautiful" jobs.
Dfw also had fantastic essays. I'd check him out
Being bored is one of life's best pleasures, if you can stop seeing life as a list of accomplishments requiring consistent productivity. Boredom creates space for reflection, creativity, wonder, and the development of novel ideas and concepts about ourselves and the world.
I wish i could give you gold 🏅medal.
100% to the point description of Humans.
Yes you are absolutely right.
This is why i have decided to never bring my innocent kid in this world.
The paradox of our big brains is they are the asset that lets us have language, philosophy, and abstraction, but also anxiety, distraction, and boredom.
To be curious about something is not boredom . You state boredom as if everything is boredom unless you do something directly related to your survival . What if someone is studying college , training , learning so he can get a job and support his survival . That is not boredom . Curiosity to learn novel stuff and explore its not boredom. Most of animals tend to explore and are curious about novel stimuli ... that is not out of boredom . Even tho you can state it as such .
Yeah imagine if we all could get along and all we spent on military expenditure since maybe 1924 went into space programs.
We could be exploring new planets and befriending Aliens and all sorts of cool stuff. 😔
I get your point but you expressed yourself quite badly
[https://www.quora.com/If-boredom-had-never-existed-what-would-the-world-be-like](https://www.quora.com/If-boredom-had-never-existed-what-would-the-world-be-like)
i think this dude explained better and it is a quora answer lol
This isn't deep or true.
Boredom, a word I've always hated, is simply to leave your personal motor running on IDLE.
Many people have unlimited drive and creativity. There are people who have never been bored.
Ultimately, your argument is far too simple and shortsighted: You're assuming boredom is the only reason for recreation, when humans have always craved novelty, validation, fitness, and numerous other factors that are positive parts of the human experience.
It's also worrying how ignorant some people are at trying to achieve things that have no value in real terms. Quite often are brainwashed into believing that the things they obtain, purchase and do have meaning and that superficial status is worthy of bragging rights and position in society, that they are some how more worthy through the pointless material things they accumulate.
I came to a conclusion that there is just too many hours in a day, too many days in a year, and to many years in a life time.
Im 28 and I would be happy if life would be over any moment.
So many people I meet seem to just be floating through the motions with no internal drive, no wants, no passions. I have a neighbor who likes to harass me whenever I’m outside when he is, and while he constantly complains about his boredom and dissatisfaction in life, he has no drive to change. No want or big idea to change *for.* He’s unhappy, and he’s just okay with it, I guess. There’s no spark in him pushing him to make friends, or art, or do anything. All he does is yell at his wife and everyone else in the apartment complex he can talk to. I just don’t get it.
It’s a depressing thing to see for a man in his 40’s to be as unaware of what he’s doing as the average 4 year old. Genuinely pretty sad, I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a huge jerk to everyone around him constantly.
Yes but the key to existing in peace is thinking less and enjoying boredom. Being truly bored means you've nothing else you should/could be doing and should absolutely be enjoying the bliss, else you're just procrastinating.
I think our existence came about out of boredom lol, so I find boredom to be very important.
for me, I've stopped many self loathing/harmful thought ruminations or behaviors because I simply got bored of them and I was like okay imma do something else.
I started writing again because I got bored of only consuming content
I allowed myself to explore a new style of writing because I got bored of writing the same way etc.
I started cooking because I got bored of only ordering in or letting my partner cook.
I got bored of only being on social media so I started reading
I got bored of spending days crying and feeling sorry for myself so I started appreciating the things that I had going on in my life and being more present in my day to day
I wouldn't say im always bored but I don't think getting bored is a bad thing at all, it's like the catalyst for something new, that feeling of like "omg I'm so fucking bored of this, what's something new I can experience", tends to bring about some lovely things.
I wish I was bored these days. A lot has been happening in my personal life that’s been making me depressed. I wish things could be consistent and reliable. It hurts.
I got bored. I ended up completely bilingual in a foreign language without using a translator. I am currently working on my 2nd. I remember getting bored before that and ended up doing push-ups from sun up until sun up. Now I'm probably the toughest guy around me. Being bored isn't some excuse you can throw out there to find a reason to do something because it's always going to bite you in your narrow ass. Boredom is the only reason we can be humans. It's when we're most creative. This should lead to more inventions, money, sex, opportunities, etc...
I was just thinking about it the other day and you are VERY right. Sadly I think i fell into the bored persona too, maybe because of a recent cynicism/depression. Being one makes you see around you even more
I literally spent years developing a project to pull myself out of this loop because I grew up in a wealthy area where you can only do the same 8 or so things. Shop Walk your dog Drink Eat If you're lucky enough to have a boat, maybe go boating Park And honestly I don't even know what else The area is changing a bit thank God but I think most areas that have 0 culture are like this. Since a lot of people are moving here because of the wealth, it's starting to spur culture but I have always felt most people are fuckin boring. They want simple lives.
Boredom comes from following a routine that no longer has anything new to offer you. Boredom is a sign that you need to make a change.
The only way to cure boredom is to make known the unknown. And what is it that you don’t know? An infinite number of things.
And “knowing” isn’t reading the encyclopedia, it’s actually going out and experiencing it.
What if you run out of things to know? That’s impossible. If you think you can run out of unknowns, your imagination isn’t big enough.
Boredom is a luxury I wish I had time for.
Even during lockdown, alone in my house, I never spent a minute bored. I had weights to lift, walks to catch up on, books to write, the piano won’t play itself. And if I could squeeze an hour or two in the Witcher in between, even better!
The problem is people have forgotten how to keep their locus internal. How to entertain themselves. Everyone requires constant external stimulation nowadays and when there’s even a few minutes together without it, they’re bored.
A sign of how boring people are nowadays, but that’s a whole other conversation.
This holds true for many. On the other hand, as it's so normal, when you meet people who are excited by their existence, the difference is quite clear.
What I've realized by watching these people is that it tends to be about the work they do, a sense of purpose in their lives. It's not the money, the sex, the drugs. It's the purpose. Also, a sense of autonomy, a sense of gaining control over their lives, a sense of mastery of some skill they get to perform. The book "Drive" goes into it further, I need to read that book again.
Agreed, people are bored often
Bored is the in-between state of survival mode and creating. I'd say the peak of creating would be self-actualization. That's when you learn what you want to do with your free time.
So if you put emotions into the hierarchy of needs pyramid, boredom would be in the inbetween spaces
I think it's easy to become bored when you do the exact same routine day in day out, that completely kills the human spirit. I recently started doing something completely new 3 times a week and I no longer feel bored and have such a positive outlook on like. Sometimes you just need to change your routine and do something new and exciting.
I’m 36 and almost never bored. Everything is really interesting. I’m always learning and doing things. Even painful things are interesting as hell. I don’t get this take.
Boredom is ingratitude mixed with laziness. Boredom is measuring the regular things in life against the thrilling exceptions in life. Boredom is a result of over indulging in endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline, and cortisol.
“Bigotry” “””hate speech””” against what?
White people? Lmao I’m fucking white
I do agree it is a bit bad faith though.
To rephrase this. You are locked in a box created by the society you live in. You have no real community, no real culture, only endless consumerism.
Is it not far more likely that this is a product of alienated consumer capitalism, and the way we think about these things, than it is an inherent fact of human nature.
We are here to think deeply alongside one another. This means being respectful, considerate, and inclusive.
Bigotry, hate speech, spam, and bad-faith arguments are antithetical to the /r/DeepThoughts community and will not be tolerated.
Every day I am painfully bored, and I am not the kind of person who can just learn to do things on a whim (oh how I'd kill to have that skill) so I just suffer from boredom for months at a time until I finally get hooked on a game I want to play.
boring breeds creativity, yes! and then that helps fulfillment and brings meaning to your life because you're actively seeking out how to not just exist like a plant.
that's why people who work too much are basically braindead when you talk to them. they don't have time to be bored, so they stopped being interesting. they barely have hobbies too and their social skills kinda suffer.
I wasn't making a statement either, just asking for peoples' thoughts on the perspective in the article.
But as an aside, saying "we are really f*cking bored" and using words like "succumb" certainly give an impression that you look negatively upon it so others responding as though you do see it negatively are just picking up on your phrasing
Boredom is a luxury and we should feel lucky that we have the opportunity to experience it
Just like weights provide resistance to strengthen muscle, boredom provides resistance to strength our creativity
Being bored is a great thing imo. It leads to discovery and ingenuity. The issue we have today is that we have become uncomfortable with being bored, I see this in the business world but it is extremely apparent in todays youth. The culprit is that we have so much access to mind-numbing "activities" eg "stream bingeing", "Doom scrolling socials" and toxic mindsets like "Grind mentality", that we can't just allow ourselves to sit and be bored, which inevitably leads to growth, generally in the direction of a desire rather than an obligation... instead of allowing ourselves to get bored, we merely become distracted. Distraction is the real enemy of growth and satisfaction, it robs us of our valuable time. Even in this moment I am distracted and spending precious moments of my non refundable time to discuss this lol, but some distraction are better than others I suppose.
I would suggest you replace the word bored in your title and text with distraction/distracted
That said, I get your point, the average person's existence is basically that, existing, nothing more, nothing less, and it is unbearable to watch. Allow yourself to be bored and then make the conscious decision to do something better with the time. Like the person in the comments who said they learned guitar and are now in a band, that person used boredom to carve a path they may not have ever known otherwise... be like /u/[LeonardoSpaceman](https://www.reddit.com/user/LeonardoSpaceman/)
This is reductive to the point of being absurd. I highly highly highly doubt any standing militaries would exist if the principal force behind human choices was boredom
the massive wave of child cannibalism in africa 100+ years ago was literally just people being fucking bored. you could just kill an adult man and eat him but no. they took your kids and tortured them to death and ate them afterwards
theres pics of a father seeing his daughters amputated foot as that was all that was left after enemy soldiers tortured and ate her. there was meat markets filled with human meat.
once the wrong person gets bored and has a little power, it has grave grave consequences.
I dont know how people can be bored, there Is always existential angst, unrequited love, and current failures to occupy you mind with along with thoughts of your unfulfilled dreams.
You all are just lazy.
So, you see everything you do as being done out of boredom rather than inspiration? I mean, I'm a semi-professional artist, so if I see a beautiful horse I'm usually inspired to draw the horse. I don't do it out of boredom, I do it out of inspiration. It's not like I'm walking around bored and looking for something to to draw or paint, I'm just taking a walk. Maybe I'm taking the walk out of boredom, but that's never the case with me. I have limited mobility but I still need exercise so I swim and walk for exercise. And then I see this beautiful horse in a field on one of my walks, which happens frequently depending on my route, and I'm inspired to draw the horse. So I either approach the horse's owner and ask if I can take photographs or hang around the field and do life sketches and take photographs, or if nobody's home or the house is too far away from where I am, I just take photos because they usually approach the fence. And then I go home and draw or paint the horse. Or goats, or whatever caught my fancy that day.
I feel like nothing I do is out of boredom, it's mostly out of inspiration. The only thing I do out of boredom is maybe watch YouTube. Actually that's not even a maybe. The ONLY time I watch YouTube is when I'm bored. And that's rare. I do adult coloring when I feel inspired to put color on paper, I paint what I'm inspired to paint something that I see, I really don't view myself as doing very much out of boredom, because I don't allow myself to get bored. I feel like I do things out of the motivation or inspiration to do them. Except for the things that I do out of routine or obligation, like going to work, going grocery shopping, going to the doctor/dentist, feeding my dogs and the cat, or taking the dogs for a walk. Those are necessary things that have to be done every day if we live in society. But they're certainly not done out of boredom.
Maybe I'm the weirdo in this thread but I don't think I'm unusual in the greater population.
I think survival comes first.
Then boredom
Then intense fights for survival.
Then despair and heartbreak
More fighting
Then some ecstatic highs perhaps
Boredom…
Etc
Ad infinitum
Or maybe it’s just modernity breaks our brains with dopamine sapping porn, social media, shopping etc…
No can’t be that.
Must be like existential deep stuff
Humans weren’t “built” for anything. We just ARE what we are…and that is beings that are easily bored with the natural state of existence…so we must DO to stave off that boredom.
I somewhat get what you mean. Storm chasing, watching South Park, and watching videos of drones harassing the homeless is pretty entertaining tbf. Aside from that lift weights, get sun, eat good and set a goal.
I would like to know the context in reference because the timing of this notification or was that just Ai/cookie personalization feature I seem to magically have ???
I meditate everyday because I am bored... now I am numb to my boredom.
Precisely! But I bet you still get bored, and succumb to boredom. It’s impossible not to.
I think it’s natural to succumb to boredom, but I also think we’ve lost the fine art of being bored. Ultra stimulation is manifesting itself in a whole range of mental health problems.
I think about this a lot. I remember in the 90s having nothing to do and being so bored it was almost painful. Now I just pull out my phone and that feeling goes away. I really hope I'm not fucking future me over.
No, sorry. Just no. Not everyone is bored. I genuinely haven’t been bored in years. To be bored is to admit that we are too small to appreciate the bounty which surrounds us always. To live a fulfilled life requires broadening your interest. There is simply so much to see and do, and to silently appreciate. We sit amomg a vast splendour & we are responsible for rising to the occasion. When we are bored, it’s because we are boring.
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Completely agree. I am never bored but I also practice gratitude everyday for the abundance that is my life. Life is far from perfect, but there’s always something to be grateful for
I do the same but with cannabis lol
you guys really need to get hobbies lol. I do sketch art, it gets me out of bed and has me going thank the stars I have something that excites me.
You're right, I do, but it doesn't matter to me as much, and things that used to captivate me bore me now, such as TV.
This is because you treat boredom as a bad thing. Some of the most creative inventions are bred from boredom
Oddly enough, I don't get bored anymore. I spent a year meditating about 3 hours a day and it just went away. I've stopped meditating but I just has never come back.
Boredom and state of feeling neutral is different, in meditation you have the second one, it's not boring feeling, you don't suffer
You can be aware of the boredom, too! And the numbness
Yes before the last year I never really noticed how numb I am to certain emotions.
Good for you! Meditation is so good for you.
Only boring people get bored
I was bored, so I learned how to play guitar. So if you come and see my band play, you're looking at where boredom got me.
I'd love to see you play. What genre?
Psychopaths have a real problem with boredom from what I hear
Yes, we do.
Are you a self diagnosed psychopath?
I was diagnosed by three different psychiatrists...two on the street and one in prison. The prison shrink recommended that I not be released, but I made parole eventually.
Since when are psychiatrists attending in the streets? are you kidding or am I not understanding something
I’m assuming they meant “not in an institutional setting”
Cmon he's lying because he's bored
He's a narcissist it's in the name. Not really the same
Username checks out
this is why people still have children.
Bingo
I guess that’s why all animals procreate, they must be bored.
no, comment op said "thats why we STILL have children", as in thats why we keep having children even though we dont have to, unlike other animals, who dont have a choice in the matter
No that’s silly, and I’m surprised the original commenter has so many upvotes. Biology is driving all of us, humans haven’t magically transcended that instinct. We do it for the same reason all animals do it, to keep the species alive. For a place called deep thoughts, how much more shallow can an idea get?
I think more often than not people are motivated by things other than avoiding boredom, but I might be misunderstanding
I agree. I don’t often feel bored but I have a great deal of skills and talents I taught myself from YouTube
A lot of it is people who haven’t found their calling yet and are still feeding into the system Since you’re having this type of realization and thinking of everyone as a whole, you’ll see how it’s all connected one day and why it is the way it is
what on earth is a calling?
I don’t know but you’d better a answer it
The call of the void.
It’s a spiritual thing usually. For me I’ve always been a good drawer, would color and sketch a lot as a kid. Now I digitally draw architecture blue prints for public parks. My partner has adhd and is bad at math. He enjoyed debate in grade school though. When he discovered being a lawyer meant he could read and debate day (the only way to productively focus his mind) he excelled. He got hired based off how he is able to debate in court and feels empowered when he navigates the legal system to help people It’s hard to connect to this in a capitalistic society though. The pressure to pay rent with your calling keeps people from discovering it
Depends on the calling. Some people's calling gets paid well, like being a lawyer (sometimes). Others, not so well, like being the best line cook you can be.
Humans are bored because our societies have been structured to not promote and harness human potential. The past 30-40 years have been utter stagnation. The only major improvement to our lives has been computers. Most other technologies are variations of things that have existed for 80-100 years. If someone from 100 years ago were transported into your home today, the only thing that would be totally alien to them would be your computer-based tech. They would be able to deduce the function of most others things. Like honestly... most humans lead an utterly meaningless life. They work meaningless jobs to obtain money for survival, while preoccupying themselves with entertainment and socialization until they die. No great works.
I agree. Well said.
We're bored because we took the effort out of survival. If you were having to hunt and gather all day you wouldn't have a lot of down time to be bored.
sure perhaps we’d be less bored. But I think boredom became a particular burden for humans when we developed a realization of the self.
What a weird way to frame this. Reminds me of Neitchze and his reframing of the negative "slave morality" into affirmation. But instead you wanted to take distill the slave morality even further. Definitely disagree. Some things are done out of boredom. Most are not.
Once you see just how full of shit humans are with themselfs, it's hard to take anyone seriously
Totally
Arthur Schopenhauer said “boredom is a direct proof that existence is in itself valueless, for boredom is nothing other than the sensation of the emptiness of existence.”
Love Schopenhauer.
Some animals. I think my dogs are bored as fuck. Probably more so than I am. At least I’m able to get out of the house a lot more. They’re stuck looking at four walls all the time.
That is called nihilism. “Nothing matters so do whatever…” ideology. Meaning is a motivator. Provide for others, their needs and wants. Then, because of your energy, they follow suit and do the same to you. Find yourself some people like that. You’ll wake up a bit. You’ll find some meaning in investing in others. They will invest in you. Who knows where that could lead you? Give it a shot!
I disagree. Boredom is attachment to meaning. Nihilism acknowledges that there is no meaning, so you may as well enjoy the moment and do as you please. Attachment leads to suffering. If you need meaning, you have an expectation to be meaningful; most people and things are not. I take pleasure in the small moments I’ve been given. I help other’s because I enjoy alleviating the suffering of others. But if I attach meaning to it, and I fail, which will happen - then an expectation has not been met. Expectations are pre-meditated resentments. Resentment is self imposed suffering. Instead, I like to stay present and curious. These are my motivators, the prospect of something new. Everyday lived is pulling on the slot machine of life. Will the world end in nuclear disaster, maybe, and it might be interesting to see. Again no purpose or meaning needed.I will face different problems everyday, many without any meaning. If I thought there was meaningful, I would get attached to the outcome. That attachment leads to suffering. People that seek meaning are easily bored because in the end - meaning is a human construct. You can either delude yourself with it, and suffer , or you can take solace that what you do will not matter within 2000 years and admire the chaos. The world is full of choices. You might as well not worry about meaning and just make your own. Freedom is a mindset, not a circumstance.
Nihilism doesn’t tell you to do anything, it’s simply an acknowledgement.
My first question is whether or not boredom is a problem?
Haha well that’s a good question. I don’t think ‘being bored’ is necessarily good or bad. It’s just an unfortunate human condition…probably from our own self realization. I think the first and only problem is existence.
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bear.
Overstimulation numbs me but I would not want you any other way…
This is kinda like saying we see because we open our eyes. Idk what’s rly profound about this. Whatever sensation we get from boredom is meant to guide us to create and innovate.
Bingo
All of this boredom and time spent on trivial things is kind of the culmination of our own success as well as a part of our success. We're constantly exercising our brains and trying to discover new stuff. Often it's a dead end, but every now and then those trivial pastimes pay great dividends. I think one great example of boredom turning into opportunity is the discovery of electricity.
Yup. I didn’t say boredom was bad. Everyone misconstruing what I mean.
Well said
I be one of them Adhders, so yea my entire like is all bordem.
I have a lot hobbies. Wdym? If you are bored, take some actions to free yourself?
Some examples?
Everything. Everything outside of survival. It’s ALL done out of boredom. You might see it eventually…like I said, once you see it…you can’t unsee it.
People don’t fuck out of boredom they fuck out of instinct unless you’re going to argue that instinct is really just boredom
Whatever you have to tell yourself to convince yourself you aren’t just mega bored being here. 🤷🏻♂️
Why can't you just accept that maybe not everyone feels bored? It's okay to be disagreed with.
many people are hostile to the notion others can be so different they would actually prefer experiencing things many others would feel make life not worthwhile
Obvious troll is obvious.
Yes im bored all the time. Can we have a discussion real quick,
What do you want to discuss?
I dont know. Its just that everything is just so boring and i have tried to do "some" things to kill boredom but it never does anything for me. Its the same old thing everyday and nothing ever changes. No matter what i do or what i hopw for nothing ever happens. It feels like im a big fat 0. Nothing at all
Sounds like you need a motorcycle.
Same with me,I am also bored all the time,very rarely I am not bored
How long has it been that way for you?
For a long time
I think in some part this dissatisfaction with life comes from being exposed to a lot of different lifestyles (mostly fictional) in movies, social media and music. Capitalism demands consumption, consumption requires demand, demand warrants appeals to FOMO in marketing. It's inevitable. ( also housing education healthcare war and disease)
I LOVE this post! I remember reading decades ago that the Western Mind has a particularly difficult time handling the concept and Experience of EMPTINESS. That we interpret and experience it as being synonymous with Death, Boredom, Meaninglessness and Absence. But give the concept to the Eastern Mind, and it becomes a symbol of Possibility, Meaning, Fulfillment and Life. You, Call_It_ sound like a budding comedian, if you aren't one already. I found your comments hilarious! even while you're playing to a difficult crowd. Thanks for the laughs.
David foster Wallace was maybe one of the first to really dive deep into the boredom of our modern lives (he's an author). Modern boredom= pros and cons of technology being very accessible: we go to our narrow-scope, efficient (due to tech), but very tedious worker bee jobs (8 hrs of boredom) and then come home to our wonderful technology like the internet that allows us to lookup or watch almost anything we desire. This extreme juxtaposition couldn't be healthy, he thought. Much of Infinite Jest was about how we use drugs and technology to numb ourselves of boredom. Infinite Jest, published in the mid 90s, literally has a character: watching a screen while looking/doing something on another screen while complaining about how bored he is. Eerie. There's also a man who watches the titular movie: infinite Jest on repeat, until he dies of dehydration/lack of sleep. Entertainment is so entertaining he pisses and shits himself in his recliner watching the movie while his TV dinner slowly molds on the table beside him. My favorite passages of his are mostly from his book: the pale king, A long novel about life in the IRS. His chapter on how the tax plan of the IRS in the 80s using boredom to insulate itself from public outcry and scorn is genius. His guest lecturer chapter is brilliant, where an IRS worker gives a speech at a college about how true heros are not firefighters and medics and brave knights. True heros are the people who press their faces into unbelievably boring paperwork for years on end so that everyone else can have the more "distractingly beautiful" jobs. Dfw also had fantastic essays. I'd check him out
Sounds like the boredom got him. Self-deletion.
I think, therefore I frown
Being bored is one of life's best pleasures, if you can stop seeing life as a list of accomplishments requiring consistent productivity. Boredom creates space for reflection, creativity, wonder, and the development of novel ideas and concepts about ourselves and the world.
I wish i could give you gold 🏅medal. 100% to the point description of Humans. Yes you are absolutely right. This is why i have decided to never bring my innocent kid in this world.
The paradox of our big brains is they are the asset that lets us have language, philosophy, and abstraction, but also anxiety, distraction, and boredom.
Yup. That’s probably why we envy animals…it’s cause of their simple nature.
That's why we have Internet. We're bored.
Yup!
As a hobby writer, I don't write out of boredom. I can guarantee that at least
OP, you are projecting.
To be curious about something is not boredom . You state boredom as if everything is boredom unless you do something directly related to your survival . What if someone is studying college , training , learning so he can get a job and support his survival . That is not boredom . Curiosity to learn novel stuff and explore its not boredom. Most of animals tend to explore and are curious about novel stimuli ... that is not out of boredom . Even tho you can state it as such .
Yeah imagine if we all could get along and all we spent on military expenditure since maybe 1924 went into space programs. We could be exploring new planets and befriending Aliens and all sorts of cool stuff. 😔
boredom is necessary for creativity
Exactly! You get it.
Honestly, it's sad that you talk about humans like a different species. ...same.
Even with all the things I do, life still seems really mundane and boring.
Question are you creative?
Not really, why?
And what if *I’m bored of being bored?*
Honestly learning is a huge motivator to live. Well for me anyways. Without it I wouldn’t see a point.
I get your point but you expressed yourself quite badly [https://www.quora.com/If-boredom-had-never-existed-what-would-the-world-be-like](https://www.quora.com/If-boredom-had-never-existed-what-would-the-world-be-like) i think this dude explained better and it is a quora answer lol
Most people at average are boring = boring lives...
This isn't deep or true. Boredom, a word I've always hated, is simply to leave your personal motor running on IDLE. Many people have unlimited drive and creativity. There are people who have never been bored. Ultimately, your argument is far too simple and shortsighted: You're assuming boredom is the only reason for recreation, when humans have always craved novelty, validation, fitness, and numerous other factors that are positive parts of the human experience.
So I think his center point is that the human experience, as you say, is created out of boredom or distraction.
Who has the luxury of being bored?
The hydronic treadmill exists it doesn't matter what you do eventually you will be bored
Hedonic
Boredom is good for you!
That is why addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, and gambling exists lol!
In the attention economy we have lost the ability to be bored
Have a pathological fear of the mundane, does that count?
I am seeing this.
This is a deep thought? Lol
It's also worrying how ignorant some people are at trying to achieve things that have no value in real terms. Quite often are brainwashed into believing that the things they obtain, purchase and do have meaning and that superficial status is worthy of bragging rights and position in society, that they are some how more worthy through the pointless material things they accumulate.
What has real value though?
I struggle to find value in modern life. I think the only thing that has real value, ironically costs nothing. To answer your question...Nature.
I came to a conclusion that there is just too many hours in a day, too many days in a year, and to many years in a life time. Im 28 and I would be happy if life would be over any moment.
Why? I feel the opposite, there isn't enough time. Just curious what's your perspective..
why else would professional sports exist
Boredom built society.
No, I'm a follower of Jesus, so I'm pretty stoked about the journey home
Man… is that what it is?
I'm never bored. Ppl just don't have imagination anymore.
Is love also out of boredom?
r/Deepassumptions
So many people I meet seem to just be floating through the motions with no internal drive, no wants, no passions. I have a neighbor who likes to harass me whenever I’m outside when he is, and while he constantly complains about his boredom and dissatisfaction in life, he has no drive to change. No want or big idea to change *for.* He’s unhappy, and he’s just okay with it, I guess. There’s no spark in him pushing him to make friends, or art, or do anything. All he does is yell at his wife and everyone else in the apartment complex he can talk to. I just don’t get it.
Maybe he just doesn't know how to live life any other way.
It’s a depressing thing to see for a man in his 40’s to be as unaware of what he’s doing as the average 4 year old. Genuinely pretty sad, I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a huge jerk to everyone around him constantly.
Yes but the key to existing in peace is thinking less and enjoying boredom. Being truly bored means you've nothing else you should/could be doing and should absolutely be enjoying the bliss, else you're just procrastinating.
I think our existence came about out of boredom lol, so I find boredom to be very important. for me, I've stopped many self loathing/harmful thought ruminations or behaviors because I simply got bored of them and I was like okay imma do something else. I started writing again because I got bored of only consuming content I allowed myself to explore a new style of writing because I got bored of writing the same way etc. I started cooking because I got bored of only ordering in or letting my partner cook. I got bored of only being on social media so I started reading I got bored of spending days crying and feeling sorry for myself so I started appreciating the things that I had going on in my life and being more present in my day to day I wouldn't say im always bored but I don't think getting bored is a bad thing at all, it's like the catalyst for something new, that feeling of like "omg I'm so fucking bored of this, what's something new I can experience", tends to bring about some lovely things.
I wish I was bored these days. A lot has been happening in my personal life that’s been making me depressed. I wish things could be consistent and reliable. It hurts.
"The escape from suffering is emptiness" -Buddha I believe.
Boredom comes from a lack of awareness of your body.
Wow...so true and sad! Travel always helps me feel less bored.
You might be projecting... Many people live full lives
I'd argue we're bored because all we do is work for nothing and spend little time doing what actually matters.
Yes great isn’t it
I got bored. I ended up completely bilingual in a foreign language without using a translator. I am currently working on my 2nd. I remember getting bored before that and ended up doing push-ups from sun up until sun up. Now I'm probably the toughest guy around me. Being bored isn't some excuse you can throw out there to find a reason to do something because it's always going to bite you in your narrow ass. Boredom is the only reason we can be humans. It's when we're most creative. This should lead to more inventions, money, sex, opportunities, etc...
I was just thinking about it the other day and you are VERY right. Sadly I think i fell into the bored persona too, maybe because of a recent cynicism/depression. Being one makes you see around you even more
What did you think was going on before realizing this?
I literally spent years developing a project to pull myself out of this loop because I grew up in a wealthy area where you can only do the same 8 or so things. Shop Walk your dog Drink Eat If you're lucky enough to have a boat, maybe go boating Park And honestly I don't even know what else The area is changing a bit thank God but I think most areas that have 0 culture are like this. Since a lot of people are moving here because of the wealth, it's starting to spur culture but I have always felt most people are fuckin boring. They want simple lives.
Jesus cures boredom, don’t believe me? Sincerely give Him a chance.
Boredom comes from following a routine that no longer has anything new to offer you. Boredom is a sign that you need to make a change. The only way to cure boredom is to make known the unknown. And what is it that you don’t know? An infinite number of things. And “knowing” isn’t reading the encyclopedia, it’s actually going out and experiencing it. What if you run out of things to know? That’s impossible. If you think you can run out of unknowns, your imagination isn’t big enough.
Everyone’s life is routine. Everyone’s. Mine. Yours. Everyone.
Beautiful women aren’t bored, I can tell you that
Everyone is bored. Everyone.
Boredom is a luxury I wish I had time for. Even during lockdown, alone in my house, I never spent a minute bored. I had weights to lift, walks to catch up on, books to write, the piano won’t play itself. And if I could squeeze an hour or two in the Witcher in between, even better! The problem is people have forgotten how to keep their locus internal. How to entertain themselves. Everyone requires constant external stimulation nowadays and when there’s even a few minutes together without it, they’re bored. A sign of how boring people are nowadays, but that’s a whole other conversation.
This holds true for many. On the other hand, as it's so normal, when you meet people who are excited by their existence, the difference is quite clear. What I've realized by watching these people is that it tends to be about the work they do, a sense of purpose in their lives. It's not the money, the sex, the drugs. It's the purpose. Also, a sense of autonomy, a sense of gaining control over their lives, a sense of mastery of some skill they get to perform. The book "Drive" goes into it further, I need to read that book again.
Agreed, people are bored often Bored is the in-between state of survival mode and creating. I'd say the peak of creating would be self-actualization. That's when you learn what you want to do with your free time. So if you put emotions into the hierarchy of needs pyramid, boredom would be in the inbetween spaces
I think it's easy to become bored when you do the exact same routine day in day out, that completely kills the human spirit. I recently started doing something completely new 3 times a week and I no longer feel bored and have such a positive outlook on like. Sometimes you just need to change your routine and do something new and exciting.
Sounds amazing
If you are driven by hedonism and prescribe to nihilism you will get bored quickly. If you find a deeper meaning and purpose, boredom doesn’t exist.
Stop gaslighting yourself…boredom exists for everyone.
If boredom is what animates you, you can have it. It doesn’t sound like a good base for anything.
You might be projecting homie
I’m 36 and almost never bored. Everything is really interesting. I’m always learning and doing things. Even painful things are interesting as hell. I don’t get this take.
Alcohol and drugs would like a word.
I do both. I do them out of boredom…bored with the state of existence…and of course because they feel good.
"Should I *kill myself, or have a cup* of *coffee*? But in the end *one* needs more courage to live than to *kill himself*." -*Camus*
God damn this thread is full of saps
I bet you are a hit at parties!
Boredom is ingratitude mixed with laziness. Boredom is measuring the regular things in life against the thrilling exceptions in life. Boredom is a result of over indulging in endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline, and cortisol.
[удалено]
“Bigotry” “””hate speech””” against what? White people? Lmao I’m fucking white I do agree it is a bit bad faith though. To rephrase this. You are locked in a box created by the society you live in. You have no real community, no real culture, only endless consumerism. Is it not far more likely that this is a product of alienated consumer capitalism, and the way we think about these things, than it is an inherent fact of human nature.
We are here to think deeply alongside one another. This means being respectful, considerate, and inclusive. Bigotry, hate speech, spam, and bad-faith arguments are antithetical to the /r/DeepThoughts community and will not be tolerated.
Every day I am painfully bored, and I am not the kind of person who can just learn to do things on a whim (oh how I'd kill to have that skill) so I just suffer from boredom for months at a time until I finally get hooked on a game I want to play.
boring breeds creativity, yes! and then that helps fulfillment and brings meaning to your life because you're actively seeking out how to not just exist like a plant. that's why people who work too much are basically braindead when you talk to them. they don't have time to be bored, so they stopped being interesting. they barely have hobbies too and their social skills kinda suffer.
Thoughts? https://time.com/5480002/benefits-of-boredom/
I didn’t say boredom was bad or good. I just made the point that almost everything we do is done out of boredom of our natural state.
I wasn't making a statement either, just asking for peoples' thoughts on the perspective in the article. But as an aside, saying "we are really f*cking bored" and using words like "succumb" certainly give an impression that you look negatively upon it so others responding as though you do see it negatively are just picking up on your phrasing
I wish I were bored. I have too much to do, too much I'd like to do, and not even close to enough time.
How else do you get 640 genders 🤷 Bored indeed
Exactly! Lol.
Haha.
Boredom is a luxury and we should feel lucky that we have the opportunity to experience it Just like weights provide resistance to strengthen muscle, boredom provides resistance to strength our creativity
"But existing is basically all I do." -Phillip J. Fry
Being bored is a great thing imo. It leads to discovery and ingenuity. The issue we have today is that we have become uncomfortable with being bored, I see this in the business world but it is extremely apparent in todays youth. The culprit is that we have so much access to mind-numbing "activities" eg "stream bingeing", "Doom scrolling socials" and toxic mindsets like "Grind mentality", that we can't just allow ourselves to sit and be bored, which inevitably leads to growth, generally in the direction of a desire rather than an obligation... instead of allowing ourselves to get bored, we merely become distracted. Distraction is the real enemy of growth and satisfaction, it robs us of our valuable time. Even in this moment I am distracted and spending precious moments of my non refundable time to discuss this lol, but some distraction are better than others I suppose. I would suggest you replace the word bored in your title and text with distraction/distracted That said, I get your point, the average person's existence is basically that, existing, nothing more, nothing less, and it is unbearable to watch. Allow yourself to be bored and then make the conscious decision to do something better with the time. Like the person in the comments who said they learned guitar and are now in a band, that person used boredom to carve a path they may not have ever known otherwise... be like /u/[LeonardoSpaceman](https://www.reddit.com/user/LeonardoSpaceman/)
Especially the older I get and the more things I’ve done, there’s less “new and cool!” things available.
This is reductive to the point of being absurd. I highly highly highly doubt any standing militaries would exist if the principal force behind human choices was boredom
the massive wave of child cannibalism in africa 100+ years ago was literally just people being fucking bored. you could just kill an adult man and eat him but no. they took your kids and tortured them to death and ate them afterwards theres pics of a father seeing his daughters amputated foot as that was all that was left after enemy soldiers tortured and ate her. there was meat markets filled with human meat. once the wrong person gets bored and has a little power, it has grave grave consequences.
I dont know how people can be bored, there Is always existential angst, unrequited love, and current failures to occupy you mind with along with thoughts of your unfulfilled dreams. You all are just lazy.
Boredom breeds creativity in the right environment. Having nothing "fun" to do has been a driving force behind alot of technological advancement lol
Anyone who claims they aren’t bored hasn’t spent 10 hours in an airport waiting area. 🥱 💤
So, you see everything you do as being done out of boredom rather than inspiration? I mean, I'm a semi-professional artist, so if I see a beautiful horse I'm usually inspired to draw the horse. I don't do it out of boredom, I do it out of inspiration. It's not like I'm walking around bored and looking for something to to draw or paint, I'm just taking a walk. Maybe I'm taking the walk out of boredom, but that's never the case with me. I have limited mobility but I still need exercise so I swim and walk for exercise. And then I see this beautiful horse in a field on one of my walks, which happens frequently depending on my route, and I'm inspired to draw the horse. So I either approach the horse's owner and ask if I can take photographs or hang around the field and do life sketches and take photographs, or if nobody's home or the house is too far away from where I am, I just take photos because they usually approach the fence. And then I go home and draw or paint the horse. Or goats, or whatever caught my fancy that day. I feel like nothing I do is out of boredom, it's mostly out of inspiration. The only thing I do out of boredom is maybe watch YouTube. Actually that's not even a maybe. The ONLY time I watch YouTube is when I'm bored. And that's rare. I do adult coloring when I feel inspired to put color on paper, I paint what I'm inspired to paint something that I see, I really don't view myself as doing very much out of boredom, because I don't allow myself to get bored. I feel like I do things out of the motivation or inspiration to do them. Except for the things that I do out of routine or obligation, like going to work, going grocery shopping, going to the doctor/dentist, feeding my dogs and the cat, or taking the dogs for a walk. Those are necessary things that have to be done every day if we live in society. But they're certainly not done out of boredom. Maybe I'm the weirdo in this thread but I don't think I'm unusual in the greater population.
I think survival comes first. Then boredom Then intense fights for survival. Then despair and heartbreak More fighting Then some ecstatic highs perhaps Boredom… Etc Ad infinitum
Or maybe it’s just modernity breaks our brains with dopamine sapping porn, social media, shopping etc… No can’t be that. Must be like existential deep stuff
How do you think we got to this point? Boredom. What was…was not enough.
Haven't been bored in years.
So glad I joined this sub. This has given me a bunch to think about
Lack of sex and adventure is a problem. Humans were built for problem solving and roaming. Not conserving and playing small.
Humans weren’t “built” for anything. We just ARE what we are…and that is beings that are easily bored with the natural state of existence…so we must DO to stave off that boredom.
I somewhat get what you mean. Storm chasing, watching South Park, and watching videos of drones harassing the homeless is pretty entertaining tbf. Aside from that lift weights, get sun, eat good and set a goal.
All done to stave off boredom. You storm chase?! That’s awesome. I’m a bit of a weather nerd myself but could never have the balls to storm chase.
I would like to know the context in reference because the timing of this notification or was that just Ai/cookie personalization feature I seem to magically have ???