Apparently we are capable of processing 185 billion bits of information in an average lifetime. In a world of continual adverts, tweets, posts, TV, YouTube, timelines and plenty of other distractions I would hazard a guess that we are reaching the outer bounds of our ability to process all this ‘stuff’. This and the lack of quiet time has led some to declare the ‘death of boredom’, which may be a good thing since research shows that you really can be bored to death. If you have a smartphone, a console and TV in the lounge, a Kindle in your briefcase, PC in the office and an iPad in the bedroom, you never need to suffer a minute without stimulation.
It seems that the war within has been replaced by a war without, where patience has been sacrificed on an alter of self-serving, manifest in short-termism:
This is seen in how we treat the planet and its other inhabitants, the environment, the economy, investments and our own health.
The problem is that to solve some of the seemingly intractable problems we face, we require creative solutions and need some boredom to process our thoughts. The best ideas often bubble up when the outside world is not distracting, entertaining or scaring us.
So at this time, may you find time to check out, disconnect, reflect, spend time with loved ones, go within, be bored and refresh – next year could be challenging and we should be prepared.
“Boredom is paradise.it is the blessed absence of what the world offers as ‘interesting’, i.e., the lures of fashion, media and other people, which, you may recall, Sartre considered Hell.” Billy Collins, American poet
