Confronting boredom

In the Mindfield webseries, a YouTuber agrees to be locked up for three full days in a cell. During this period he is alone and has no access to any entertainment. Worse yet: the lights stay on, so he has no time marker.

This experience is rich in lessons. After 12 hours, Michael Stevens completely loses track of time, to the point that after two days he believes three days have passed. And during these three days, he suffers martyrdom. Boredom is heavy, and after his first "night" he falls into a lethargy during which he loses his mind to the point of not knowing how to count and to the point of being completely disoriented. I invite you to watch this episode (link to the episode here). Moreover, YouTube Premium is free for the first month.

This example is extreme. Thanks to him, I understood how allergic we are to boredom. What I even think is that our aversion to boredom is one of the main drivers of our misfortune. That's why it's essential to actively train ourselves to be bored.

We all have an ability to retain a certain amount of information over a period of time. When we retain information (visual and auditory) in order to perform a task, we use our working memory. Whether it is to run errands, solve a mathematical problem or answer an email, all the factual information we need is temporarily stored in this working memory. It has a relatively small capacity ( it is sometimes said that it can recall 7 to 9 pieces of information simultaneously at best). When I open my fridge and I don't know what I was looking for anymore, it is due to an overload of the working memory: as I was thinking about several things simultaneously, my memory became saturated and some information got lost.

When I watch a TV series, my working memory is much busier than when I read a book. That's what makes video entertaining. As our working memory is saturated by the flow of information, we are completely captivated. We're passive cognitively. Whereas if I read a book, I have to make an extra cognitive effort to stay invested in my reading. That's why some people read less. They have lost the habit of making this higher cognitive effort than when they watch a movie.

The problem is that you quickly get used to intense brain stimulation. Today it is possible to go through the day - from getting up to going to bed - without a moment of boredom. Thanks to smartphones and the Internet, I can constantly entertain myself on social networks, on YouTube or with video games. Personally, when I'm in a slightly more difficult period I have my own vice: chess. If I create a lichess account (an online chess site), I can play 3-minute games in a loop. 3-minute games are very cognitively intense games compared to 10-minute games. And yet, if I don't refrain, I can play for hours on end without ever getting bored. In addition, the spikes in dopamine triggered by wins make the activity even more addictive.

The first obvious consequence is our growing need for stimulation. I know someone who, while watching a tv show, takes out her smartphone and plays a game because she's bored. But this blog is not a reactionary blog, so I'm not going to make a speech about the-smartphone-who-kills-our-society. I think there are more harmful consequences to the fear of boredom.

In Jean Giono's book Un roi sans divertissement ("a king without distraction") the gendarmery captain Langlois lives thrilling adventures in a small mountain village in the Vercors. And then, when it's all over [ATTENTION SPOILER], faced with the boredom of his new home life, he commits suicide by smoking a stick of dynamite [END OF SPOIL]. The novel ends with a quote that is very dear to me :

Activity gives a reason for our lives. In a small community (a company, an association) where I am useful and recognized for my work, it is nice to get involved. Life in a small community is beneficial, certainly. But being constantly active takes us away from a hard truth: the universe is indifferent to our life. If you don't actively build your life around this truth, then boredom is threatening. Because it sends us back to our condition.

Albert Camus wrote an essay about Sisyphus, the Greek hero who was condemned by the gods to push a rock up a mountain forever. According to Camus, Sisyphus should rejoice in his situation. For he has only one thing to do. He has no dilemma, no doubt about his life. To be happy, he only has to devote all his energy to a single mission: to accept his situation in order to be happy.

We are not condemned to push a rock until the end of time. Our everyday problems are generally simpler. But one of the pitfalls is to believe that the purpose of life is activity. The Dalai Lama meditates four hours a day. Four hours he spends doing nothing. Other yogis in India and Tibet are famous because they spend most of their time sitting and meditating. This ideal is not put forward at all in the West, wrongly I think.

Indeed, if an individual blossoms by sitting in a room for hours and hours, if he does not see time go by and is serene, then I think he is truly free. Then, even without entertainment, he will never be full of misery.