How far would you go to remove boredom? Well according to research conducted by a Malaysian University, you might electrocute yourself.
. . .
Boredom is universal; we all feel it. It usually compels us to engage in activities to avoid the feeling. These activities could range from simple ones like watching a movie to dangerous ones such as drug use. But how far would you go to remove boredom? Well according to research conducted by a Malaysian University, you might electrocute yourself.
In the study, participants were placed in sparsely furnished rooms, asked to put away their belongings, and then given a 6 to 15-minute test. Some were told to think freely, while others chose prompts to plan their thoughts. Afterward, they rated their experience on a nine-point scale. About 50% found the experience unenjoyable, with many reporting high levels of boredom. When allowed to do the study at home, the results were similar, with participants preferring activities like reading or listening to music over just thinking. The researchers then took the experiment further by leaving participants alone in a lab room for 15 minutes with the option to electrocute themselves. Despite earlier stating they would pay to avoid electric shocks, 67% of men and 25% of women chose to shock themselves rather than sit quietly and think.
People who work in monotonous activities are prone to boredom. The need to avoid boredom is so important that they might develop hallucinations over a long period of time. We can establish from here stimulation is important. But the problem here isn't a lack of stimulation but rather that people are becoming less responsive to it. What we are facing today is boredom which is caused by overstimulation. This goes hand in hand with the emergence of technology. Technology plays a prominent part in the ways we find entertainment and with each passing day it just keeps getting better and better. Unfortunately, this has made us easily bored with little attention span. “I can’t be left alone with my thoughts.” is a common saying thrown around for a couple of gags. Contemplation and being okay with your thoughts are things we rarely see in this day and age. When did it become unbearable to just sit still with our thoughts?
The Emerge of technology and the rise of overstimulation
The digital media is a world of its own. And overstimulation is the beginning of other underlying problems. For instance, Addictive behaviors come with it causing continuous scrolling even though we are not paying attention to what is being displayed on our screens. That is what is called “Zombie scrolling”. Another addictive behavior that comes with digital media is “Doom scrolling” which is when people go online deliberately searching for contents that cause distress. These behaviors stem from our decreasing ability to be easily stimulated, leading to poor memory function and increased impulsivity. Despite these negative effects, we find it difficult to break free from these habits. Why do we rely on digital media so heavily?
Now we have an algorithm made to be us. Every social media is tailor-made to adapt to what we are interested in and provide us with a never-ending flow of content. We keep consuming but find ourselves growing weary. To distract ourselves from this, We consume even more. We want to stop but we can’t; we have developed a dependency on it. An addiction that demands more stimulation over and over again. It is like shooting heroin up the eyes.
Remember how we would spend hours watching arab cartoons on MBC 3 without moving? We would not move an inch for hours unless there was a commercial break. We had no idea what it was like to be bored watching the same show over and over again but now we can’t even stand to watch a 3:00 minute video. We have reached the level of such a low attention span and the impulse for overstimulation is interfering with our self-concept, sleep, and beliefs. The impact is worse on children, having access to mobile phones and social media from a young age is causing a global epidemic of growing mental illness, loss of purpose,e and clinging to suffering. Since we don’t allow ourselves to spend time with our thoughts we consume whatever is being said out there we fail to form our own opinions. The way we think becomes whatever is trending out there. We all become a group of Collective thinkers, unable to form our own authentic and coherent thoughts. All of us are affected by this, it disrupts our principles making the line between right and wrong very faint. Are you bored yet?
What is the solution?
The solution is quite simple; touch some grass - literally. Our addiction to social media often stems from a lack of equally stimulating alternatives, but this is a misconception. Research indicates that spending time in nature not only stimulates the brain but also has calming effects. So, step outside, sit under a tree, and watch some birds. You'll notice the positive changes before you know it.
Both Boredom and stimulation are important to the human condition. We can develop different hobbies and create something out of our bored state. After a long day of working, rewarding ourselves with some stimulating activity helps us avoid being burned out. However, that activity doesn’t have to be to always go online and scroll. We get fed up with doing the same thing repeatedly. We are programmed that way but we should challenge ourselves with what is right instead of always doing what is easy. Instead of being consumers, we can use the algorithm to learn and produce something new. The brain is affected by the way we use it so we need to practice mindfulness, and examine our principles and our ethical approach to life. A lot of things are accessible to us and life is not as hard as the hunting-gathering times when we had to worry about finding food or shelter or the medieval times when we waited for pigeons to deliver our letters to get in touch with our friends. Technology has made our lives simpler but we need to be smart in the way we use it. We shouldn’t take it for granted and abuse it to the point it starts to abuse us in the end. Let’s use it as a resource rather than a necessity we can’t live without.
