Did you know that most people would prefer to avoid boredom as opposed to avoiding pain? Apparently being bored is worse than experiencing pain. In this Veritasium video, an experiment was conducted to see how people would behave when faced with boredom. Guess what the result is? Well, people would rather opt for something shocking just to escape being bored. It’s an interesting video if you are curious.
Boredom has been a mysterious phenomenon. It’s a state of feeling underwhelmed and uninspired by the options around you. It’s not a pleasant state to be in for most people. This is probably why people do silly things. People would rather be stimulated than feeling bored. Just look around, there is no lack of stimulation around us. We want stimulation.
But boredom is actually the key driver of our behaviours. We do things to avoid boredom. Sometimes great inventions come out of boredom. People tend to come up with creative ideas to deal with boredom. So being bored isn’t all that bad. It’s probably safe to say that boredom is a key driver of progress. We should probably view boredom as a good thing and learn to deal with it.
Are Stimulations Really Good For Us?
There is another question. Is being stimulated all the time good for us? The state of being constantly doing something is actually preferred by many people. While it’s true that being busy takes your mind off unpleasant thoughts, avoiding boredom completely doesn’t seem wise either. I think it’s best to have a new way of looking at boredom rather than just brushing it aside.
Boredom Can Be Good For Us
Boredom is a reflection of our state of mind. It’s there to tell us something. It tells us that we are probably not doing something we are supposed to do and we should deal with it head on. We should see it as an opportunity rather than something to be avoided. It’s the perfect time to cultivate creativity and practise being present. Let it take us to where we want to go.
Boredom is an eternal theme. It has been one of the key factors that shapes our behaviours. With more digital stimulations popping up, boredom will continue to be an important theme in the coming years, Rather than seeing it as useless, we should view it as an opportunity. So next time when you feel bored, instead of reaching for your phone perhaps you should allow it to be for a while.