Boredom

I'm beginning to find most of my posts relate only indirectly to the topic....

Hesse's 'Steppenwolf' starts with the main character talking about a gray day, those were nothing happens, and in a few lines explains how he prefers feeling bad over not feeling at all...

That has helped me become less bored overall, as I tend to do stuff I didn't do before and become more 'adventurous' feeling that if something went wrong, it would still be better than not doing anything at all.

Shepaints - I think that depression results from boredom and the frustration which boredom brings, as well as boredom resulting from depression. A good way out of both boredom and depression is to find something stimulating and meaningful to do.

i am jealous, Joe. I tried ( unsuccessfully) to get a copy of "Steppenwolf" for six months before finally giving up. You'd think it would be more common. Hesse's writing is so beautiful.

lol Hamal- parents say a lot of things. That's why, when you are visiting their home, you use head phones and ear plugs, and make excuses to leave withing 2 days of arrival.

I'm surprised that you had trouble locating a copy of Steppenwolf. There must be zillion copies left over from the Hesse fad during the 1960's. It was almost required reading, like The Prophet, in many circles.

Did you know that Steppenwolf was also one of the most highly regarded books for the Nazi SS?

At least here in Mexico, Hesse's Siddhartha, Demian and Steppenwolf are very, very common even new editions... some are as cheap as $20 pesos (roughly $1.80 dlls.). Of course the editorial house is crap, but it gives you an idea of how popular his books are.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? YOu often read people mentioning how good it is, and I've found old copies of his lesser known work ( also for a few dollars) . At the time when I was looking for it I was in Western Europe ( specifically Germany), so part of the problem was cultural isolation and finding English literature , although I remember briefly searching for a german copy, and I couldn't find that either. I should go hunting for it again, since I have access to a university library at the moment.

I hope it's better quality than "The prophet". And less psuedomystical, for that matter.

It was the nazi SS's favourite book ? That's really interesting. (Just for one last unrelated and xenophobic comment) I will never understand the Germans. NEVER!

Funny, Eccles, I was just about to post exactly
the same sentiment that you expressed....i.e.
boredom could be both a cause and a result
of depression.

I worked temporarily for a phone company. The job entailed analyzing numerical data all day. I was COMPLETELY unsuited to the task (zzzzzzzz) and was hopeless at it! I quit ....

Hamal, I agree with your mother's comment
"Only boring people are bored", but I still don't
think it applies to kids in school taking classes
that they have no interest in.

Thanks for the tip on the book Joe FX...I wonder
if boredom is less commonplace in sunny
climates such as Mexico?

Oh, you are so right on it doesn't always apply. The only reason I posted it was that it was a solution for me somehow. Thinking about it like that I found it very hard to allow myself to be bored ever period. If I started down that line of thought I was literally forced to figure something out to keep me entertained.
Anyway, I can definitely see this not being a good thing to say to someone at all, just in my case it worked 100%. My mom definitely knew what would motivate me. Also this might seem weird but it's become one of my favorite sayings from my parents, go figure.

I would certainly agree that in class having all work finished you should be encouraged to read whatever floats your boat, draw, write, whatever. I would consider this being controlled, if you cant do anything about it I don't see it as boredom. If you had the choice you would be doing something you enjoy right? To me it is a bit different when you have no real good choice so I agree completely.

I like the way you responded to the challenge
of your Mother's comment Hamal. I will give
it a try with my student, it may be the one
thing that works!

Eccles, you could always ask for it on Amazon or Barnes & Nobles online shop.

I didn't meet my grandfather as he died before my parents got married. But his sayings still are living through all my aunts/uncles and some cousins.

It was about 4 years ago that my cousin said to me when he saw I was bored: "Only dumb people get bored". I remembered this when I read Hamal's post but I didn't respond in the same way, as I still get bored sometimes. And with all due respect to everybody, it's true. There's always lots of options of things you can do, like the guy Phoenix talked about.

My mom says one gets bored because one has nothing to do. So the solution might be in enrolling in some extra-curricular activities.

About how boredom decreases with sun, I really can't speak in that area, because I live practically with the same climate as yours.

What I've seen is that most people my age get lots of 'boredom phases' and it's assosiated most of the time with depression. I try to keep their spirits up by taking them out or encouraging them to read a book or take a course. But it's their battle and no one else's.

I was depressed for most of 2003, it just kind of went away. But during that time I was bored most of the time, it was horrible. The sun (because I love it), Hesse's writings, my friends, my family, a psychologist, all helped me... but it was me who had to take life and mold it into something I liked more.

Joe, the answer starts with "poor" and ends with "student". But it's a good idea anyhow, so thankyou.

oh!

I'm guessing the middle of the answer spells " "...

Yes, yes, that might just be it.

Thanks for the compliment shepaints! This is a great thread by the way, all these ideas definitely shed some light into the reasons behind it all. You guys are great!

Nobody else has suggested this, so I will. While I agree with Phoenix that the lethargy born of depression can look like boredom, I think boredom is a much different animal. In an environment that provides no incentive, no challenge, no reward, no stimulus, I believe the human soul is bound to feel unsatisfied, unfulfilled, disinterested--my definition of boredom.

Haven't we all had at least one teacher who could put coffee to sleep? The student trapped in an unimaginative education system, especially the unusually bright or especially creative one held back by mediocre achievers, is bound to be bored. The bored student must be offered some reward, incentive, or purpose to inspire him/her to achieve.

On the bright side, it is my belief that many great inventions, discoveries, contributions, works of art, etc. resulted from somebody who had too much time on his/her hands and was inspired by boredom to do something different.

But it also works in the opposite way. A lot of creative people are and in the educational system. Think if Einstein had stayed in his school in Germany.

Or, even better, what drugs do you think teachers would have put the greatest creative minds from the last few centuries. Leonardo DaVinci and Thomas Edison displayed traits which would be diagnosed as ADHD these days. I doubt whether ritalin does help the creative process.

I think you hit the nail on the head Foxfyre.....There is a "cookie cutter" approach to teaching students in the primary and secondary level that doesn't recognize the very individual, and very different abilities and
aptitudes of individuals.

I think boredom can result when you are not driving
your life.

JoeFX...Hollywood North is a nickname for Toronto...so called because of all the movies made here....Mid Feb people get the so-called "February
blahs" from months in the ice and cold and light deprivation.

I too fear we are squandering our brightest and best by making the child who is different feel 'different' and/or drugging him/her into submission. Don't you wonder how the schools managed before the days of Ritalin?

Oh, I didn't know that shepaints, so I can see why you refer to Mexico as hot and sunny...

Vacationing is also something that washes away boredom, it's always something to look up too.

I have had 3 jobs that were relatively boring.

#1 labouring in the cornfields
#2 canning corn in a factory
#3 analyzing numbers for a phone company

The payoffs were:

#1 getting fit, chatting to other workers,
daydreaming, good pay
#2 repetitive tasks, good pay, daydreaming
and chatting to others
#3 had to keep on task with those
@@#*% numbers all day, good pay

The most tiring of all was #3. I was more
exhausted at the end of the day working
with numbers than with either
#1 or 2.

I also sometimes enjoy boring and repetitive work, because it gives you a chance to daydream and think through things. I find it harder to do jobs which require you to concentrate on less interesting things, although I can see what benefits you could gain from this. Think of it as the " calculation" meditation.