Feeling bored and why it isn’t necessarily a bad thing

When was the last time you felt bored? Chances are, not that long ago. We're all bored sometimes, be it in class, meetings, or social events. And what's the universal sign of a bored person at present? They're scrolling through social media, looking for something to distract themselves from the discomfort of being bored.

"Discomfort" doesn't quite capture the visceral pain we feel when we're bored. In an experiment conducted at the University of Virginia in 2014, participants were asked to sit alone in a room for fifteen minutes doing absolutely nothing. They were also given a button that, if pressed, would zap them with an electric shock. 67 percent of men and 25 percent of women chose to shock themselves rather than sit quietly. One guy disliked being bored so much that he zapped himself 190 times (or maybe he liked being shocked?).

We, as a society, have long understood the cruelty of boredom and have weaponised it accordingly. From parents giving their kids a "time out" to detention at school, boredom has been used and framed as punishment. But biologically, what's the point of this painful emotion?

As kids, we learn that when something hurts, we should probably avoid it. Pain is a mental failsafe. So, what is this unsettling feeling of boredom trying to tell us?

Tolstoy once described boredom as "the desire for desires", which perfectly encapsulates the experience. I feel the need to do something, but lack the conviction to do anything. Biologically speaking, it's my body's way of saying, "This thing you're doing is unsatisfactory; it isn't stimulating or fulfilling enough. Maybe you need to re-evaluate the situation you're in." After a short evaluation, most of us conclude that we're not productive enough. Yet compared to our ancestors, we are.

A multicohort study of 400 US schools found that feelings of boredom increased by 1.14 percent each year from 2008 to 2017. Another meta-analysis of 64 studies in China found that among college students, chronic boredom jumped from 50 percent in 2009 to 94 percent in 2020. And these weren't studies about classroom boredom. Participants expressed a broader feeling of exasperation and a lack of meaning or purpose in life itself.

There isn't one neat explanation for why we feel more bored. But the easy answer is that there's simply too much to do.

I remember when we first got broadband internet at home in 2016. Finally, I could watch everything I loved on YouTube. I told myself, "Sure, it's social media, but I'll learn stuff too." And there is truth in that. There are incredible creators producing quality content, and social media has democratised access to knowledge.

But platforms are businesses, and businesses aim to maximise profit. The algorithm shows me video after video it thinks I will like, pleading with me to stay a little longer. I still feel like I am learning something, so I keep watching while eating, in the shower, even while falling asleep. But eventually, the facts start to blur into white noise. I am half-listening, half-scrolling, far from truly learning anything.

A study in Communications Psychology sums it up: digital media contributed to the increase in boredom through dividing attention, elevating desired levels of engagement, reducing sense of meaning, and serving as an ineffective boredom coping strategy.

Endless, incoherent consumption of content, even good content, erodes meaning. Watching what the algorithm suggests instead of what we truly want lulls the mind into autopilot.

At this point, we crave stimulation, not substance. Because of this, silence, even for a little while, starts to feel unbearable.

The pings of your notification bar aren't there to make you feel more connected; they're there to keep you hooked. Their advertised aim to simulate the social experience is a spectacular lie, because people don't interact this way in real life. In an attempt to simulate a connection, we have mechanised it. And somewhere between the pings and the scrolls, the quiet conversations where meaning used to be cultivated have vanished.

Thus comes the need to be more mindful of the content we consume and remain vigilant, whether we are actually enjoying it or just scrolling mindlessly. We should catch up with friends more because a group chat can never really replace a hangout. We should value deep dives and embrace the messy feeling that comes with them. It may not be as polished as a lecture on YouTube, but it will leave you more satisfied.

Journaling, sports, meditation, craft projects-these and so much more can be tangible things to pursue alongside mindful content. The next time you feel bored, don't reach for your phone; maybe sit with that uncomfortable feeling for a while. Because when I did so, it helped me understand a very simple truth: we as human beings crave intimate connections and creative outlets. And endeavours to achieve these things in real life, albeit messy and non-linear, leave you filled with far more meaning and purpose, something even the best of digital content can only hope to imitate.

Mehrab Jamee is a 5th-year medical student at Mugda Medical College and writes to keep himself sane. Reach him at [email protected].