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Idleness is dead. We're constantly picking up novel stimuli and concepts, getting triggered by emotional politics/entertainment, and following infinite trends... as soon as our minds are idle, we immediately jump back to the things we've been absorbing, or feel that obsessive itch to scan for new stimuli. What happened to being bored? To doing things, not because they were "cool" or even "fun", but simply because there was time that had to be killed? Going out because there was nothing inside, and meeting other bored people, connecting on anything because it was better than nothing? Technology is raising the "minimum acceptable interest level" for activities - killing our mental slack, the slack where offline novelty could slip in. I've been thinking about it for a while, but this thread has made my decision. Next time I'm off-call, 3pm tomorrow, I'm going to cut the cord. Unplug the modem and tell my friends I'm only answering phone calls (disable data) - no internet outside of work. I want to feel bored again. Not brief moments of boredom, the hours of boredom I felt as a kid, the boredom that drove me to do new things... instead of today's boredom, that merely leads me to learn new things. |
To me, that's an alien experience. I was and am never bored when I'm alone, I just think and imagine. I only get bored when I have to pay attention to boring stuff that prevents me from drifting off.