The Psychology of Boredom

Imagine you are running around reenacting scenes with a gun - well, a fake gun. The action and danger is exciting and the process of enlarging a hole, like the barrel of a gun, is called boring - "Boring". Boring a hole is a slow process requiring repetitive movements from a tool that moves in circles, which might just be why things that are slow and repetitive but don't appear to be going anywhere came to be described with the same word - boring. Just a little something to pick your brain, lol.

Let us discuss the concept of boredom, exploring its origin, significance, and potential positive aspects. Boredom is described as a feeling of discomfort; when someone is uninterested in the outside world and left alone with their thoughts. This bears the question whether the existence of boredom implies that life itself isn't enough to fulfill and satisfy individuals. The discussion pulls on philosophical perspectives from figures like "Arthur Schopenhauer" and "Giacomo Leopardi", who contemplate the nature of boredom and its implications for and on the human spirit.

Contrary to the notion that boredom is a subject not worth worrying about, it has been found that it is, in actuality, a profound emotion. Boredom, has been explained to not be in a passive state; rather, it can stimulate brain activity and creative thinking. Which, when you think about it, even on the surface - it kinda makes sense. Neurological evidence indicates that brain activity only drops about 5% when a person is bored. Images with magnetic resonance show increased activity in the regions of the brain responsible for recalling internal memory, understanding others' thoughts and feelings, and imagining hypothetical events.

"Jennifer Schuessler" argues that boredom can be a source of creativity, well-being, and self-reflection. Boredom is actually seen as a state that encourages individuals to notice the overlooked aspects of their surroundings and motivates them to take productive actions, such as cleaning, writing, or engaging in mental challenges. Oh gosh - well there goes my self-loathing! haha

In this article, we will be challenging the perception of boredom as an unimportant or negative emotion and dive into how it can possibly play a role in stimulating creativity and self-discovery. We can start by discussing the "Boredom Proneness Scale" (BPS), a tool that assesses an individual's proneness to getting bored and their ease of being attentive. Average scores on the BPS range between 81 and 117. The correlation between BPS scores and self-awareness is further explored, suggesting that individuals with high levels of self-awareness tend to have a lower tendency to feel bored.

Physiological factors are also considered, in individuals having fewer dopamine receptors in the brain, who tend to require more excitement to stay stimulated. Chronic boredom is therefore seen as a potential symptom related to one's body physiology. If you were to leave it unchecked, chronic boredom can lead to more severe issues, such as depression, anxiety, drug addiction, alcoholism, hostility, poor social skills, bad grades, and low work performance. This really makes sense, and I think we can use the information in our day-to-day lives just to take better care of our selves, and even more importantly - in raising little people into healthy adults. When we understand ourselves, it is a lot easier to also understand others.

Our brains need stimulation in order to be healthy, not so much that they're overwhelmed but a perfect balance unique to each individual, under which they can perform optimally, with energized focus, what psychologists call flow. Too little stimulation and our brains will act out, in the hopes of finding some thing to prevent something worse from happening. Our brains have "thaasophobia", the fear of boredom. Peter Toohey's "Boredom: A Lively History" quotes Norman Doidge's findings that "nothing speeds brain atrophy more being immobilized in the same environment: the monotony completely undermines our dopamine and attentional systems which are crucial for maintaining brain plasticity."

Variety and stimulation encourage neurogenesis, new brain cells and can extend the lives of cells that already exist in certain regions of the brain. In order to avoid a lack of stimulation, our brains will even try to make up their own stimulations - hallucinations. In my very brief study of evolution - I have discovered how the brain can make up all these "scenarios" in our head to compensate for the presence or lack thereof of something necessary for survival. Remember, we still have our primitive conditionings. Hallucinations can be induced in almost anyone's brain, if there isn't enough stimulation around. For instance, the ganzfeld effect. When exposed to random noise and unchanging monochromatic field, the brain freaks out and starts generating hallucinations. The effect can also be induced with ping pong balls, hemispheres over the eyes, and a radio tuned to static. Extended sensory deprivation that eliminates sight, sound, smell, taste and tactile sensations can reduce the sensation of weight which can then also cause hallucinations as well as anxiety.

When denied proper stimulation, the brain goes through phases that begin with boredom and if left unchecked can become worse. It's a

phenomenon well-documented in animals confined to cages for long periods of time, and, in a horrific case, a human child named Genie. Born in 1957 in Arcadia, California, "Genie" became one of the most famous cases of abnormal child psychology. Her father was abusive to her and her family and delusional. He hated the outside world and sought to isolate his family from it as best he could. He kept Genie locked in a room with only two blacked-out windows for the first thirteen years of her life. He often tied her to a toilet chair and never fed her solid food. When authorities finally found her, in 1970, she had not acquired a language and had the mental age of an 18-month-old child. Genie was extensively studied and became a staple of psychology courses, a rare example of an impossible experiment.

I cannot even imagine being confined to that state for all of my life up to pre-adolescense. Horrid and vile is what I would use to describe this incident. On the latter - if we are desperately searching for a reason to be positive - we can thank the fact that the "experiment" has lead to some interesting findings on this topic.

In summary, the psychological and physiological aspects of boredom are actually a crucial part of 'who we are' as a species, emphasizing its impact on mental health and overall well-being. If you ask me - it just simply should not be left out when dissecting matters of emotional/ mental well-being.

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