In this episode of the I Can't Sleep Podcast, I bore you to sleep reading about...boredom! Yep, I had to record one on this subject since it's so in line with the podcast. That aside, you can learn so many boring things about boredom. So, I imagine you'll be asleep in the first five minutes? Happy sleeping!
Meet your Teacher
Pleasant Grove, UT, USA
Transcript
Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast, Where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Bostor. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled, Boredom. In conventional usage, Boredom is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, Is not interested in their surroundings, Or feels that a day or period is dull or tedious. It is also understood by scholars as a modern phenomenon which has a cultural dimension. There is no universally accepted definition of boredom, But whatever it is, Researchers argue it is not simply another name for depression or apathy. It seems to be a specific mental state that people find unpleasant, A lack of stimulation that leaves them craving relief, With a host of behavioral, Medical, And social consequences. According to BBC News, Boredom can be a dangerous and disruptive state of mind that damages your health. Yet, Research suggests that without boredom, We couldn't achieve our creative feats. In Experience Without Qualities, Boredom and Modernity, Elizabeth Goodstein traces the modern discourses on boredom through literary, Philosophical, And sociological texts, To find that as a discursively articulated phenomenon, Boredom is at once objective and subjective, Emotion and intellectualization, Not just a response to the modern world, But also a historically constituted strategy for coping with its discontents. In both conceptions, Boredom has to do fundamentally with an experience of time and problems of meaning. Etymology and Terminology The expression, To be a bore, Had been used in print in the sense of to be tiresome or dull since 1768 at the latest. The expression boredom means state of being bored, 1852 from boredom. It also has been employed in a sense of bores as a glass and practice of being a bore. The word bore as a noun meaning a thing which causes ennui or annoyance is attested to since 1778, Of persons by 1812. The noun bore comes from the verb bore, Which had the meaning to be tiresome or dull, First attested in 1768, A vogue word, Circa 1780-81 according to Gross. Possibly a figurative extension of to move forward slowly and persistently, As a whole boring tool does. The French term for boredom, Ennui, Is sometimes used in English as well, At least since 1778. The term ennui was first used as a French word in English in the 1660s and it was nativized by 1758. The term ennui comes from French ennui, From Old French ennui annoyance. The German word for boredom expresses this, Langeweil, A compound made of lange, Long, And weile, While, Which is in line with the common perception that when one is bored, Time passes torturously slowly. Different scholars use different definitions of boredom, Which complicates research. Boredom has been defined by Cynthia D. Fisher in terms of its main central psychological processes, An unpleasant, Transient, Effective state in which the individual feels a pervasive lack of interest and difficulty concentrating on the current activity. Mark Leary et al. Describe boredom as an effective experience associated with cognitive attentional processes. In positive psychology, Boredom is described as a response to a moderate challenge, For which the subject has more than enough skill. There are three types of boredom, All of which involve problems of engagement of attention. These include times when we are prevented from engaging in wanted activity, When we are forced to engage in unwanted activity, Or when we are simply unable for some other reason to maintain engagement in an activity. Boredom proneness is a tendency to experience boredom of all types. This is typically assessed by the boredom proneness scale. Recent research has found that boredom proneness is clearly and consistently associated with failures of attention. Boredom and its proneness are both theoretically and empirically linked to depression and similar symptoms. Nonetheless, Boredom proneness has been found to be as strongly correlated with attentional lapses as with depression. Although boredom is often viewed as a trivial and mild irritant, Proneness to boredom has been linked to a very diverse range of possible psychological, Physical, Educational, And social problems. Absent-mindedness is where a person shows inattentive or forgetful behavior. Absent-mindedness is a mental condition in which the subject experiences low levels of attention and frequent distraction. Absent-mindedness is not a diagnosed condition, But rather a symptom of boredom and sleepiness which people experience in their daily lives. When suffering from absent-mindedness, People tend to show signs of memory lapse and weak recollection of recently occurring events. This can usually be a result of a variety of other conditions often diagnosed by clinicians such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression. In addition to absent-mindedness leading to an array of consequences affecting daily life, It can have more severe long-term problems. Physical Health Lethargy is a state of tiredness, Weariness, Fatigue, Or lack of energy. It can be accompanied by depression to decreased motivation or apathy. Lethargy can be a normal response to boredom, Inadequate sleep, Over exertion, Overworking, Stress, Lack of exercise, Or a symptom of a disorder. When part of a normal response, Lethargy often resolves with rest, Adequate sleep, Decreased stress, And good nutrition. Anxiety Boredom is a condition characterized by perception of one's environment as dull, Tedious, And lacking in stimulation. This can result from leisure and a lack of aesthetic interests. Labor and art may be alienated and passive, Or immersed in tedium. There is an inherent anxiety in boredom. People will expend considerable effort to prevent or remedy it. Yet in many circumstances, It is accepted as suffering to be endured. Common passive ways to escape boredom are to sleep or to think creative thoughts, Daydream. Typical active solutions consist in an intentional activity of some sort, Often something new as familiarity and repetition lead to the tedious. During the fin de cycle, The French term for the end of the 19th century in the West, Some of the cultural hallmarks included ennui, Cynicism, Pessimism, And a widespread belief that civilization leads to decadence. Boredom also plays a role in existentialist thought. Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche were two of the first philosophers considered fundamental to the existentialist movement. Like Pascal, They were interested in people's quiet struggle with the apparent meaninglessness of life and the use of diversion to escape from boredom. Kierkegaard's Either-Or describes a rotation method, A method used by higher level esthets in order to avoid boredom. The method is an essential hedonistic aspect of the aesthetic way of life. For the esthete, One constantly changes what one is doing in order to maximize the enjoyment and pleasure derived from each activity. In contexts where one is confined spatially or otherwise, Boredom may be met with various religious activities, Not because religion would want to associate itself with tedium, But rather partly because boredom may be taken as the essential human condition to which God, Wisdom, Or morality are the ultimate answers. Many existentialist philosophers like Arthur Schopenhauer espouse this view. This view of religiosity among boredom does affect how often people are bored. People who had a higher religiosity while performing boring tasks reported less boredom than people of less religiosity. People performing the meaningless task had to search less for meaning. Martin Heidegger wrote about boredom in two texts available in English in the 1929-1930 semester lecture course, The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, And again in the essay, What is Metaphysics, Published in the same year. In the lecture, Heidegger included about 100 pages on boredom, Probably the most extensive philosophical treatment ever of the subject. He focused on waiting at railway stations in particular as a major context of boredom. Sir and Kierkegaard remarked in Either-or that patience cannot be depicted visually since there is a sense that any immediate moment of life may be fundamentally tedious. Blaise Pascal and the Pensee discuss the human condition and say we seek rest and a struggle against some obstacles, And when we have overcome these, Rest proves unbearable because of the boredom it produces. And later states that only an infinite and immutable object that is God Himself can fill this infinite abyss. Without stimulus or focus, The individual is confronted with nothingness, The meaninglessness of existence, And experiences existential anxiety. Heidegger states this idea as follows, Profound boredom, Drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, Removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole. Schopenhauer used the existence of boredom in an attempt to prove the vanity of human existence, Stating, For if life, In the desire for which our essence and existence consists, Possessed in itself a positive value and real content, There would be no such thing as boredom. Mere existence would fulfill and satisfy us. Eric Fromm and other thinkers of critical theory speak of boredom as a common psychological response to industrial society, Where people are required to engage in alienated labor. According to Fromm, Boredom is perhaps the most important source of aggression and destructiveness today. Where Fromm, The search for thrills and novelty that characterizes consumer culture, Are not solutions to boredom, But mere distractions from boredom which, He argues, Continues unconsciously. Above and beyond taste and character, The universal case of boredom consists in any instance of waiting, As Heidegger noted, Such as in line for someone else to arrive or finish a task, Or while one is traveling somewhere. The automobile requires fast reflexes, Making its operator busy and hence, Perhaps for other reasons as well, Making the ride more tedious despite being over sooner. Interestingly, In some uni languages such as Zulu, Boredom and loneliness are represented by the same word. This adds a new dimension to the oft quoted definition of Ubuntu. A person is a person through other people. Causes and Effects Although it has not been widely studied, Research on boredom suggests that boredom is a major factor impacting diverse areas of a person's life. People ranked low on a boredom proneness scale were found to have better performance in a wide variety of aspects of their lives, Including career, Education, And autonomy. Boredom can be a symptom of clinical depression. Boredom can be a form of learned helplessness, A phenomenon closely related to depression. Some philosophies of parenting propose that if children are raised in an environment devoid of stimuli and are not allowed or encouraged to interact with their environment, They will fail to develop the mental capacities to do so. In a learning environment, A common cause of boredom is lack of understanding. For instance, If one is not following or connecting to the material in a class or lecture, It will usually seem boring. However, The opposite can also be true. Something that is too easily understood, Simple, Or transparent can also be boring. Boredom is often inversely related to learning, And in school it may be a sign that a student is not challenged enough or too challenged. An activity that is predictable to the students is likely to bore them. In 1989, Study indicated that an individual's impression of boredom may be influenced by the individual's degree of attention, As a higher acoustic level of distraction from the environment correlated with higher reportings of boredom. Boredom has been studied as being related to drug abuse among teens. Boredom has been proposed as a cause of pathological gambling behavior. A study found results consistent with the hypothesis that pathological gamblers seek stimulation to avoid states of boredom and depression. It has been suggested that boredom has an evolutionary basis that encourages humans to seek out new challenges. It may influence human learning and ingenuity. Some recent studies have suggested that boredom may have some positive effects. A low-stimulus environment may lead to increased creativity and may set the stage for a eureka moment. In the Workplace Bore-out is a management theory that posits that lack of work, Boredom, And consequent lack of satisfaction are a common malaise affecting individuals working in modern organizations, Especially in office-based white-collar jobs. This theory was first expounded in 2007 in Diagnose Bore-out, A book by Peter Werter and Philip Roslin, Two Swiss business consultants. They claim the absence of meaningful tasks rather than the presence of stress is many workers' chief problem. A banishment room, Also known as a chasing-out room and a boredom room, Is a modern employee exit management strategy whereby employees are transferred to a department where they are assigned meaningless work until they become disheartened enough to quit. Since the resignation is voluntary, The employee would not be eligible for certain benefits. The legality and ethics of the practice is questionable and may be construed as constructive dismissal by the courts in some regions. In Popular Culture Meh is an interjection used as an expression of indifference or boredom. It may also mean, Be it as it may. It is often regarded as a verbal shrug of the shoulders. The use of the term meh shows that the speaker is apathetic, Uninterested, Or indifferent to the question or subject at hand. It is occasionally used as an adjective, Meaning something is mediocre or unremarkable. Superfluous Man The superfluous man is an 1840s and 1850s Russian literary concept derived from ironic hero. It refers to an individual, Perhaps talented and capable, Who does not fit into social norms. In most cases, This person is born into wealth and privilege. Typical characteristics are disregarded for social values, Cynicism, And existential boredom. Typical behaviors are gambling, Drinking, Smoking, Sexual intrigues, And duels. He is often unempathetic and carelessly distresses others with his actions. Existentialist Fiction The bored anti-hero became prominent in early 20th century existentialist works such as Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Jean-Paul Sartre's La Nose, And Albert Camus' La Nouveau, French for the Stranger. The protagonist in these works is an indecisive central character who drifts through his life and is marked by ennui, Angst, And alienation. Grunge Lit Grunge Lit is an Australian literary genre of fictional or semi-autobiographical writing in the early 1990s about young adults living in an inner-city world of disintegrating futures where the only relief from boredom was through a nihilistic pursuit of sex, Violence, Drugs, And alcohol. Often the central characters are disfranchised, Lacking drive and determination beyond the desire to satisfy their basic needs. It was typically written by new young authors who examined gritty, Dirty, Real existences of everyday characters. It has been described as both a subset of dirty realism and an offshoot of Generation X literature. Stuart Glover states that the term grunge lit takes the term grunge from the late 80s and early 90s Seattle grunge bands. Glover states that the term grunge lit was mainly a marketing term used by publishing companies. He states that most of the authors who have been categorized as grunge lit writers reject the label.
4.8 (195)
Barbara
January 7, 2025
I have listened to many of your podcasts, and so far this is the most boring bore of all! Perfect!
Diane
October 2, 2023
Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about. Being bored to sleep by a talk on boredom was a magic formula. Two big thumbs up! It’s going into my favorites. Many thanks. 😂😴😴😴
Sarabeth
August 15, 2022
Wow, that is some seriously boring shit! I love it! I have been listening to at least 1 of these podcasts for the last 2 months and sleeping! If my cat hadn't decided to climb on my head, I'd still be sleeping! At least now I know how to fall back to sleep!
DarkSparkle
June 6, 2022
This series is brilliant! One thing I especially appreciate, in comparison to many of the other sleep meditations, is that there's nothing to "do". I find with the typical body scan sleep meditations, my mind starts to wander because I get distracted and bored. I prefer to listen to these readings because I don't have to do anything, and the information feeds my mind, which gets it to stop running and let's me actually sleep! It's a clever device that *works*!! Thank you so much! 🤗
Diana
February 5, 2022
Boring... Thanks!
Antonia
December 3, 2021
I love how you've found a way to help the world with your boring voice! Lol you rock!
Deborah
December 12, 2020
His voice and cadence is so soothing, it works like a charm.
Vanessa
November 30, 2020
Very interesting and I would like to recommend this to all those who attended Jason.s live event last week when the topic of boredom was discussed at the end. Lessons to be learned. I said it was a privilege which was more or less sniffed at, but I meant as a luxury, as some people are never allowed to ‘experience ‘ boredom and live in total fear or pain. However it’s interesting and was very interesting some of the examples of types who ‘suffer’ boredom as in the ADHD person. Anyway... I did drop off finally but woke again as it is almost a decent time in the morning. I would like Jason Gris (I think that is his name) to listen to this. Many thanks 🙏
Kristine
November 18, 2020
Very nice! Thank you!
