# Boredom is but a window to a sunny day beyond the gloom.



## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

What, exactly, is boredom? It is a deeply unpleasant state of unmet arousal: we are aroused rather than despondent, but, for one or more reasons, our arousal cannot be met or directed. These reasons can be internal – often a lack of imagination, motivation or concentration – or external, such as an absence of environmental stimuli or opportunities. We want to do something engaging, but find ourselves unable to do so and, more than that, are frustrated by the rising awareness of this inability.

Awareness, or consciousness, is key, and might explain why animals, if they do get bored, generally have higher thresholds for boredom. In the words of the British writer Colin Wilson: ‘most animals dislike boredom, but man is tormented by it’. In both man and animal, boredom is induced or exacerbated by a lack of control or freedom, which is why it is so common in children and adolescents, who, in addition to being chaperoned, lack the mind furnishings – the resources, experience and discipline – to mitigate their boredom.

Let’s look more closely at the anatomy of boredom:

Boredom is but a window to a sunny day beyond the gloom | Aeon Ideas


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

^ Why is it so damned boring to be stuck in a departure lounge while our flight is increasingly delayed? We are in a state of high arousal, anticipating our imminent arrival in a novel and stimulating environment. True, there are plenty of shops, screens and magazines around, but we’re not really interested in them and, by dividing our attention, they serve only to exacerbate our boredom. To make matters worse, the situation is out of our control, unpredictable (the flight could be further delayed, or even cancelled) and inescapable. As we check and re-check the monitor, we become painfully aware of all these factors and more. And so here we are, caught in transit, in a high state of arousal that we can neither engage nor escape.


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## harmonica (Feb 26, 2020)

..humans are animals.....dogs love to be ''aroused''/playtime/walk time ....dogs love company and hate to be alone 

...humans love to watch TV/movies that arouse themselves-...they love to watch sports to arouse themselves.....etc etc 

...humans don't '''need'' to keep busy to live.....they do it for a ''high'' like doing drugs/etc


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

harmonica said:


> ..humans are animals.....dogs love to be ''aroused''/playtime/walk time ....dogs love company and hate to be alone
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> ...humans love to watch TV/movies that arouse themselves-...they love to watch sports to arouse themselves.....etc etc
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> ...humans don't '''need'' to keep busy to live.....they do it for a ''high'' like doing drugs/etc



Can you sit for hours, just looking out of the window?


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## Tijn Von Ingersleben (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> harmonica said:
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Depends what's out the window.


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## Sunni Man (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> Can you sit for hours, just looking out of the window?


How big is your cell window?  

Does it have bars?  ...


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

Tijn Von Ingersleben said:


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That's the whole point. No control, or guarantees.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

Sunni Man said:


> Mindful said:
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Are you always this stupid?


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## gipper (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> What, exactly, is boredom? It is a deeply unpleasant state of unmet arousal: we are aroused rather than despondent, but, for one or more reasons, our arousal cannot be met or directed. These reasons can be internal – often a lack of imagination, motivation or concentration – or external, such as an absence of environmental stimuli or opportunities. We want to do something engaging, but find ourselves unable to do so and, more than that, are frustrated by the rising awareness of this inability.
> 
> Awareness, or consciousness, is key, and might explain why animals, if they do get bored, generally have higher thresholds for boredom. In the words of the British writer Colin Wilson: ‘most animals dislike boredom, but man is tormented by it’. In both man and animal, boredom is induced or exacerbated by a lack of control or freedom, which is why it is so common in children and adolescents, who, in addition to being chaperoned, lack the mind furnishings – the resources, experience and discipline – to mitigate their boredom.
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> ...


What do you make of this statement from the article you posted?  I’m not sure what the author means. What are examples of little things?

*In the words of the 18th-century English writer Samuel Johnson: ‘It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.’*


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

gipper said:


> Mindful said:
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> > What, exactly, is boredom? It is a deeply unpleasant state of unmet arousal: we are aroused rather than despondent, but, for one or more reasons, our arousal cannot be met or directed. These reasons can be internal – often a lack of imagination, motivation or concentration – or external, such as an absence of environmental stimuli or opportunities. We want to do something engaging, but find ourselves unable to do so and, more than that, are frustrated by the rising awareness of this inability.
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Lots. Everyday, when you're out and about.


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

gipper said:


> Mindful said:
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> > What, exactly, is boredom? It is a deeply unpleasant state of unmet arousal: we are aroused rather than despondent, but, for one or more reasons, our arousal cannot be met or directed. These reasons can be internal – often a lack of imagination, motivation or concentration – or external, such as an absence of environmental stimuli or opportunities. We want to do something engaging, but find ourselves unable to do so and, more than that, are frustrated by the rising awareness of this inability.
> ...



I believe what he means is. . .  find something to do, anything, no matter what it is, do it well, and be the best you can be at it.


Do you like building pop-sickle art? 







That is fine.  But study pop-sickle art, and attain a mastery of pop-sickle artistry.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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The notion of it is to do nothing, be nothing. If you can stand it.


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## gipper (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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Maybe I need to take up smoking weed. That should help me notice the little things and keep my mind occupied. LOL.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

gipper said:


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You're not supposed to keep your mind occupied. Maybe you should give up your car. Then you'd notice things. Sounds, smells.....


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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Funny. But; being bored and being boring are two separate issues.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

If only I could get back my childhood sense of wonderment.


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## gipper (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> If only I could get back my childhood sense of wonderment.


Why would I want to be bored?


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

gipper said:


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What's 'wanting'  got to do with it?


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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Prove it.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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Nothing to prove.


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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Well, you said in your opinion they are two different things, I said support your opinion.  If you don't want to, then don't.  I guess this is why you, and your author, have a deep misunderstanding of this issue.

It is also why free thinkers like Gipper and I find this whole topic. . . well. . . sort of silly. 

Because they ARE the same thing.  SHEEP ARE BORING.  And?  They get bored easily. 

Folks that go clubbing, go to bars, pay their taxes, vote for one of the two parties, do the nine to five thing, wash their shiny cars, watch their sports, go shopping, etc., do what everyone else does, and believe the narrative of the establishment, if someone isn't there to hold their hand, and tell them how to think and live their lives?  YEAH, THEY GET BORED.  They are boring.

This article is kind of weird, it is the author's misguided attempt at convincing himself at explaining why he is so dull, and perhaps a search for meaning?   I suppose we might blame the Camus?    Existential materialists are generally sad people, but it is not their fault, they willingly become "human resources."

He reads a lot, that is clear, but he has no thoughts or ideas of his own.  He is an expert at doing and saying what society says, and creating misguided and meaningless synthesis, but he lacks any spirit of his own.  He lacks creativity.  It is kind of sad.  There is absolutely no insight here.


The folks he quotes in your article certainly don't have this problem.

I seriously doubt either Bertrand Russell or Arthur Schopenhauer have ever experienced true boredom.  I am sure that their minds were always active.

This is why he completely does not get that there IS NO SUCH THING AS "BOREDOM," when you have a free mind.  When your mind is free, you welcome "boredom," as it were, because that is just freedom.

In part, he starts to get it at the end of the article, that if you are bored, you are "boring."

Did you READ the article you posted?

". . . So instead of fighting boredom, go along with it, entertain it, make something out of it. In short,_* be yourself less boring.*_ Schopenhauer said that boredom is but the reverse side of fascination, since both depend on being outside rather than inside a situation, and one leads to the other.. . "




Zen masters are never, ever "bored."  They, like their minds, are free.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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I think you're over analysing it. And I think you want to take me on.

I'd rather be bored.

Not that I'm saying you are boring.


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## gipper (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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Yeah I can’t say I’ve ever been really bored. I’ll find something to do either physically or mentally.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

And I love Camus.

A good looking man with an intellect.

What more could one want?


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

gipper said:


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Agreed. 

I can't imagine being bored just sitting in an airport terminal.  I live isolated in the woods, like Henry David Thoreau.

If I were around so much activity, I would probably creep folks out and make them think I were a US air Marshall, since my people watching and pondering would go into overdrive.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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I do that kind of thing. I know all the observance hotspots in town.

If I lived in the woods, I'd be scared of the axe murderer showing up.


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> And I love Camus.
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> A good looking man with an intellect.
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> What more could one want?




Money?  Lots and lots of money and power?


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## evenflow1969 (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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That bottom one is pretty awesome. I have not done some thing like that since I was a child. I am not complaining I spend my free time on the water. Also a good way to fight boredom.


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

MisterBeale said:


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I had money, and nothing to spend it on. In former East Berlin.


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## MisterBeale (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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. . . well then, family of course.


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## Sunni Man (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> Are you always this stupid?


There is no reason to be rude.  ...  

btw  I like the prison uniform you're wearing in your avatar!!  ..


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## Mindful (Feb 26, 2020)

Sunni Man said:


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That wasn't rude.

Merely pragmatic.


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## Sunni Man (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


> That wasn't rude.
> Merely pragmatic.


A normal person would say it was rude.

But you juden like to twist the truth to distort reality.  ...


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## harmonica (Feb 26, 2020)

Mindful said:


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yes--I can ..a lot of humans can't


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## Kat (Mar 9, 2020)

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