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Is boredom extinct?

EGarrett

Illuminator
E
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
3,086
Was thinking about this today. In first world countries, we have computers, DVD's, free music, Ipods, PSP's, cell phones and all kinds of portal constant diversions.

When's the last time, outside of work, you were really bored? I really can't think of it for me.

That's pretty noteworthy, isn't it? For people who use the internet, we actually spend more time reading and writing than any generation in history. Which is supposed to be a good thing.
 
Several English teachers I know will talk about the decline of writing.
Just because we have all of these gadgets why does this mean that we are not bored? Aren't there times when you just want to unplug? To be bored for a few moments. I think those moments of boredom help us appreciate the times when we are not bored.
 
I disagree. When I was a kid I was never bored. If I wasn't at home reading, watching TV or doing homework (not that that took up much of my time!), I was playing footie with my mates, or out on my bike, or skateboard. There's so much youth crime and antisocial behaviour these days and often the kids say that they're bored, that wouldn't get into trouble if they only had something to do.

I honestly think that computer games and lowest common denominator TV are part of the problem. They don't stimulate the imagination, because you can shut off your mind, it's all there in graphic detail, no need to imagine anything.

Of course, I could be talking utter crap, it wouldn't be the first time!
 
wollery said:
I disagree. When I was a kid I was never bored. If I wasn't at home reading, watching TV or doing homework (not that that took up much of my time!), I was playing footie with my mates, or out on my bike, or skateboard. There's so much youth crime and antisocial behaviour these days and often the kids say that they're bored, that wouldn't get into trouble if they only had something to do.
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You weren't bored by your homework? Freak. (g)

I honestly think that computer games and lowest common denominator TV are part of the problem. They don't stimulate the imagination, because you can shut off your mind, it's all there in graphic detail, no need to imagine anything.
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Television, yes. But how does the internet force you to shut off your mind?

Of course, I could be talking utter crap, it wouldn't be the first time!
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Likewise.
 
Actually, I think when speaking of computer games you should be careful not to sweep them into a single category as such.

While I'd agree with you about most of the popular games out now (many FPSes, many sports games, basic action games), some are a bit different. For example, there are some good adventure games that require quite a bit of thought and puzzle-solving to complete, as well as introducing new ideas. Some games involve comedy, useful for entertainment. Games like CSI or ER offer a (limited, yes) simulation of actual events, again requiring careful thought and puzzle-solving. Many games for children are educational in nature, teaching shape, color, numbers, and so on.

Not all are vacuous. Same with television. It's all a matter of the content you chose to use on the devices. If you limit yourself (for example) to fashion magazines, tabloids, and romance novels, the same argument could be made for books :)
 
I have to disagree with the OP. I think most people are bored nearly all of the time now. Most people no longer read, write, or think if they have the choice.

Surfing the internet isn't really reading, at least not for most people. How many books have you read online?

Writing emails or posts isn't really writing, at least not for most people.

I think that the use of computers for writing has seriously degraded the quality of writing. Yes, people can more easily revise drafts and edit their work, but how many of them take the trouble to do so seriously?

I love computers and technology. I'm fully capable of being a gadget freak.

That I'm not is by conscious choice.

I don't own a cell phone - haven't for years and don't plan on getting one.

I don't have an iPod or its equivalent. I love listening to music, but at the right time and in the right place. Having it on all of the time would ruin it for me.

I carry my computer with me most places and work on it quite often. I rarely listen to music on it.

Many people seem to have attention spans in the 5 - 10 seconds range. They may frantically multitasking, but they aren't doing anything I'd call thinking.

The people that I see around me, always wired in, always jabbering away on phones or listening to music, have removed themselves from the world. I think they are utterly bored and utterly boring. I do my best to avoid them.
 
I kind of get bored when I'm too tired to do anything constructive but not tired enough to go to bed. I sometimes end up hitting 'refresh' on this forum to see if there are any new posts since two minutes ago. You have to be REALLY bored for that...

:)
 
EGarrett said:
Was thinking about this today. In first world countries, we have computers, DVD's, free music, Ipods, PSP's, cell phones and all kinds of portal constant diversions.
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All which can be good and bad.

I'm somewhat concerned that obesity will not get better as quickly, and also concerned that focusing on escaping reality as frequently as some people do is not beneficial.
 
woollery said:
Computer games, not the internet. Although the internet fills their heads with total crud.
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There are games that don't teach you much. But I still take issue with lumping the internet in.

The internet is where I first got exposed to the weird concept of skepticism and critical thinking...in addition to many other things that have genuinely made me a more knowledgeable and useful human being.

Complexity said:
Most people no longer read, write, or think if they have the choice.
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Strongly disagree. Specifically with the words "no longer," as though the internet has STOPPED the average person from reading, writing and thinking as much as they would have before...

Surfing the internet isn't really reading, at least not for most people. How many books have you read online?
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As far as I know, it's almost impossible to surf the internet WITHOUT reading...and reading a lot.

I've read more newspaper articles, magazine-style articles, encyclopedia entries, movie reviews, and amateur essays online than I ever (EVER) would have otherwise. And I'm a dork who used to read the encyclopedia in my spare time.

Do you consider Wikipedia, and things like Randi's updates to be "not really" reading? Why?

Writing emails or posts isn't really writing, at least not for most people.

I think that the use of computers for writing has seriously degraded the quality of writing. Yes, people can more easily revise drafts and edit their work, but how many of them take the trouble to do so seriously?
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Strongly disagree. Writing posts is sharing your thoughts with other people, in printed words. In a form that is viewed by a thousand times more people than you would have had reading your thoughts even fifteen years ago. More common people have more incentive and more access to writing, foreign points of view, and audiences for their work than ever at any time in history.

How is that bad? How does that degrade writing? Because there's no editor picking through their typos? I prefer it that way. I want real people to give their real thoughts without having to worry about their grammar or what others will think of them. That's where you get the best and most honest ideas and insights.

I think they are utterly bored and utterly boring. I do my best to avoid them.
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Let's not change the definition of the word.

T'ai Chi said:
All which can be good and bad.

I'm somewhat concerned that obesity will not get better as quickly, and also concerned that focusing on escaping reality as frequently as some people do is not beneficial.
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I'm with you all the way.
 
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EGarrett said:
When's the last time, outside of work, you were really bored?
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Aah, yet another perfect summary of modern human existence... :p

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be sitting in a nice warm office eating a microwave curry, than trying to fend off bears and forage for food... but the latter just wouldn't be as ******* boring!

And to address the actual question, I'm never bored outside of work, as I have a mission in life - trying to learn as much maths and physics as possible. It beats accounts-assisting hands down.

[pmod=Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]Edited for breach of rule 8, disguised or otherwise.[/pmod]
 
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I honestly think that computer games and lowest common denominator TV are part of the problem. They don't stimulate the imagination, because you can shut off your mind, it's all there in graphic detail, no need to imagine anything.
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I notice you left out other visual things. You don't list film, photography, painting, and other such things. Even plays and comics do that. And yet, you leave them out to attack the latest scapegoats. Back in the early 1900s, people said the same things about film. In the 1500s and 1600s people said the same about plays and novels.

Of course, I could be talking utter crap, it wouldn't be the first time!
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Well, not utter crap, but you are just repeating untrue cliches.
 
I won't be bored until I am done reading the entire english wikipedia database I am almost to the B's. The biggest problem is not clicking on the damn links to letters ahead but I always end up cheating.
 
Technology has little to do with boredom or lack there of. I am always bored and I have sattelite TV and a computer. At my grandmothers house where she has cable modem I still run out of things to do Online in a few hours and find myself bored.
 
Ceritus said:
I won't be bored until I am done reading the entire english wikipedia database I am almost to the B's. The biggest problem is not clicking on the damn links to letters ahead but I always end up cheating.
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Current article creation rate is slightly greater than 1 per minute. Could be tricky.
 
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