One of the attributes of the modern condition is an inability to be bored. “In one study, nearly half of participants left alone for 15 minutes with no stimulation chose to have an electric shock.” !!!
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I think the brain isn't just a passive processor; it has an appetite for information. And with a candy store in each of our pockets, we've all become junk food addicts.
I long to be bored again.
I have always viewed this study as saying more about curiosity than boredom. Left in a room with an electric shocking device, I suspect I would shock myself. My assumption is that the researchers wouldn't put it in there if it is too dangerous, so this is my chance to feel a mild but non-dangerous shock!
Take the train more! My wife drove 100 miles away for a weekend visit with my daughter at college. My youngest had a robotics competition so we stayed behind and then rode the train down (the South Shore from Chicago to South Bend). We brought some kindles, etc. but wound up not using them at all. We stared out the window. Talked and not talked the entire time. It was glorious boredom.
Being bored is essential to managing adult life (and much of childhood). It encourages thoughts to run wild and creatively. I've spent the last 10 years or so blathering to my children about the value of boredom, not sure if it stuck, though.
What is it that makes this a "modern condition"? Do we have information on whether more or fewer people would have chosen the shock a hundred years ago? Jeffrey acknowledged curiosity, are we less or more curious in the "modern condition"?
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