Dr Richard Ralley, a psychology lecturer from Edge Hill College in Ormskirk, Lancashire, has embarked on a scientific study of boredom, hoping to find a scientific benefit for the emotion.
“Boredom can be a good thing,” he said to the Guardian newspaper, “Boredom is natural, so let's deal with it.”
“In psychology we think of emotions as being functional. Fear, anger and jealousy all serve a purpose but they're painted in a bad light even though they exist for a reason. It’s the same with boredom, which also has a bad name. We get bored because we get fed up when we have nothing to do and feel the need to be productive. We feel bad when we’re not productive and that’s what boredom is associated with.”
His theory is that when there is nothing to do, when we are not being subjectively productive, we can relax in preparation for the next time there is something important to do.
He stated that: “Boredom is something, it’s not just switching off. It can be useful. When there’s nothing rewarding going on we conserve energy, so that when we want to reengage we can. There's a balance between doing something that’s rewarding and doing something that’s rewarding but not being happy about doing it.”
This has relevance for how we deal with bored kids – do we try to occupy their time, or do we allow them to be bored and figure out what to do themselves? Will allowing them to be bored ultimately be good for them?
In a more serious aspect to the emotion, boredom can also occur as a symptom of clinical depression. It may also lead to impulsive, possibly excessive, actions that serve little purpose. For example, studies in behavioural finance have shown that stock traders with nothing to do can start “overtrading” – that is, buying or selling for no good reason.
So if you’re game, try yawning in front of your boss and see if you can make him/her tired.
Listen to this show here
Boredom is a fairly new post modern phenomenon. It has a linear relationship with the increase in the consumerist attitude that promotes 'information' over 'experience'. Thus we in turn become observers rather than engaging with life in general. This is the root of chronic boredom of our society.
ReplyDeleteThe more 'interesting' things we do the higher the propensity of us getting bored. These things we call 'interesting' are feeding a deep boredom that arises from lack of 'Value' oriented experiences...