[NickPollard]

Why is it sickening? There is no virtue in being bored; no goal to be achieved by doing nothing. If I have time, I wish to do something useful with it, and entertainment is useful (if not, then life would be rather dull).

There is a certain perverse nostalgia these days to times before smartphones, before the internet, before the telephone, before technology. Wasn't it great when you were stuck on train without a book, and just had to grin and bear it? Many would argue this builds character. I would argue it's luddite masochism.

[aestra]

>There is no virtue in being bored; no goal to be achieved by doing nothing.

Boredom is actually good for children and adults.

http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/raise-great-kids...

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405311190345450... - you'll need to view the google link to see the full article - http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21895704

>Wasn't it great when you were stuck on train without a book, and just had to grin and bear it?

Seriously? Is it THAT bad sitting quietly by yourself that you had to use the expression "grin and bear it?" I would not be upset being on a train without entertainment. In fact, I don't usually bring entertainment with me on flights or trains and if I do, I usually don't end up using them anyways.

[kcovia]

The point is not to be bored, but to appreciate each and every moment for what it is, not merely as a vehicle to another more important moment.

Thirty years ago, when I was still a novice at Tu Hieu Pagoda, washing the dishes was hardly a pleasant task. During the Season of Retreat when all the monks returned to the monastery, two novices had to do all the cooking and wash the dishes for sometimes well over one hundred monks. There was no soap. We had only ashes, rice husks, and coconut husks, and that was all. Cleaning such a high stack of bowls was a chore, especially during the winter when the water was freezing cold. Then you had to heat up a big pot of water before you could do any scrubbing. Nowadays one stands in a kitchen equipped with liquid soap, special scrubpads, and even running hot water which makes it all the more agreeable. It is easier to enjoy washing the dishes now. Anyone can wash them in a hurry, then sit down and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards. I can see a machine for washing clothes, although I wash my own things out by hand, but a dishwashing machine is going just a little too far! While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly:

Why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/G%20-%20TNH/TNH/Fro...

[NickPollard]

That's very poetic, but entirely meaningless. It merely posits that because we used to do dishes by hand, we are now missing something by not doing them. Which is true, in the same way that we're missing something by not having polio epidemics anymore.

My current flat has a dishwasher, my last flat did not. Time that I once spent doing the dishes, I now spend on my side project, or engaging with friends, or relaxing with a book. Each of these is more enjoyable, and more meaningful, than concentrating on washing the dishes.

I appreciate each and every moment for what it is, but I appreciate moments of pleasure more than moments of boredom. That should not be a strange thing.

Please stop pretending to be wise: http://lesswrong.com/lw/yp/pretending_to_be_wise/

[lectrick]

I think the worry is that instead of "having" to initiate interaction with other humans for the non-boredom you're praising, everyone will just open their cellphone.

The above solution at least allows 2 random people to interact while waiting, which counteracts the isolation tendency IMHO.

[sliverstorm]

No one is being nostalgic for boredom. The concern is more along the lines of, as we fill life with trivial distraction and meaningless micro-achievements, we crowd out the more valuable but more difficult achievements as we lose our ability to stomach a little boredom or hard work or displeasure to get there.

[mratzloff]

> There is no virtue in being bored; no goal to be achieved by doing nothing.

Yeah, actually there is. Not only is it important to unplug from technology on a regular basis, but an idle brain is useful for creative thinking and problem solving.

[NickPollard]

> an idle brain is useful for creative thinking and problem solving.

This is a more reasonable argument, and I agree. It is often useful to have quiet space to think. That said, I prefer to put the dishwasher on, and go for a walk outside for 15minutes, than to stay inside doing the dishes. The dishes themselves are not in and of themselves important. In the case of the streetlight, many people may be too busy navigating the streets to relax properly into a good idle state, or they may be pissed off and want some light-hearted fun; we should not make value judgments on them for that.

> it [is] important to unplug from technology on a regular basis

Whilst I might not necessarily disagree with you on this point, people often make this claim with no actual evidence or reasoning. Why is it important to unplug? In some situations, I can clearly see a benefit - for example, eating dinner with friends, pulling out a phone to check social media disrupts your ability to connect with your friends, makes you seem rude, and will likely reduce the quality of your interaction. When I'm on the train to work in the morning, listening to music and reading web articles on my phone seems like a net benefit.

There can be benefits to avoiding technology and to doing things properly and in-person - but those should be evaluated on an individual basis with logic, rather than with a general appeal to puritan work-ethics and ascetism.