Odyshape

This may sound like a strange question but why do you think people get bored . I suppose it could be linked to the fact they we are so used to adapting to new things that we are unable to be satisfied by the same things. I honestly have no clue though. It doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose from an evolutionary stand point in itself though.

Whaddya guys think. Why do people get bored?

Sneer

Because life is empty and meaningless.

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Odyshape

But that doesn't stop it from being fun sometimes

Sneer

Boredom is a core construct in existentialist thought, it's the essential human condition. When one is 'bored', they are confronting the nothingness of being. Life can be fun, and often is, but only because people are actively pursuing activities and interests, expending their energies, in the attempt to steer clear of the anxiety and dread that accompanies the realisation that everything's meaningless.

Of course, if you do not subscribe to existentialism, I'm sure you'll have another explanation for it.

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Paedantic Basterd

When I grow truly bored, I develop a headache.

Odyshape

I definitely feel like that. I take a fairly optimistic way of looking at it though. Like I have faith in myself that I won't be bored but I definitely see it as an active pursuit as you describe it.

sonar1

We seem to need constant stimulation to stay in the present moment.

When there is no stimulation from outside ourselves we think we have attained stasis between threats perceived and dealt with.

For some reason fear then gives way to doldrums.

Instead of appreciating serenity we instead turn within and project catastrophies into the future, based upon past experiences. This inner dialogue creates stress, which has no outlet if we do not actively process it through some kind of movement.

Stress saps strength, without any sense of satisfaction in doing something productive to "better our circumstances."

Fear turned outward is anger.

Fear turned inward is depression.

Depression saps motivation. We languish in the doldrums of inactivity, and miss the hungry years when we found meaning through successfully negotiating challenges.

We seek Rx through retail therapy (AKA G.A.S.).

That will be $25.
I'll invoice ya.

Odyshape

Can you explain what you mean by this?

sonar1

Means we're not self-motivated, as a species.

Given a choice between taking our chances outside the cave to forage for food at the risk of being eaten by bears, we're far more likely to remain in the cave, take another bong hit, and call out for a pizza delivery.

If we were wired to be complacent we'd sit on our asses and experience being directly, instead of taking dominion over creation and eventually paying The Fed to sell us our own money at interest.

That's the short form.


Yes I left out some evolutionary details, but that's a start.


We need SOMETHING to drive us out of our comfort zone. That something is not likely to spring from within (except perhaps as hunger).

"Stimulation from outside" can be, but is not limited to, the empirical needs of sufficient water, food, shelter, and social grouping for mutual benefit. Once these basic needs are met, the threat implied by their lack is diminished, and too the motivation to keep moving to towards broader goals unless a motivation is generated from an imagined (inwardly created from projection into the future) threat(s).

s_k

Keeps you occupied?

I think boredome is a state of mind. There's never nothing to do. You just don't feel like doing anything.
I read somewhere that being bored is actually developing the brain.
Hence the headache

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