People who turn to digital devices and social media to stave off tedium may miss out on the chance to get creative through the state of profound boredom, new research drawing from the Covid pandemic has found.
Boredom is a “productive state”, the Irish Booker Prize-winning novelist Anne Enright recently said. “I wait for boredom to kick in because boredom, for me, is a very good sign.”
Now, researchers from Trinity College Dublin and the University of Bath School of Management identified that temporary breaks in work and enforced solitude provided many people with the rare opportunity to experience both “superficial” and “profound” boredom, the two levels first identified by German philosopher Martin Heidegger.
But those who picked up smartphones and devices to spend their time scrolling through social media were unwittingly preventing themselves from progressing to the second important state of profound boredom.
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In the less severe moments of superficial boredom, the more common experiences such as waiting for a train or bus, social media and mobile devices play a significant role.
However, it is in times of profound boredom, brought about through an abundance of uninterrupted time and relative solitude, that many stumble upon creative and meaningful activity, the researchers explained.
The research examined the experiences of pandemic boredom where people were either placed on furlough schemes or asked to work from home.
“The problem we observed was that social media can alleviate superficial boredom but that distraction sucks up time and energy, and may prevent people progressing to a state of profound boredom, where they might discover new passions,” said Dr Timothy Hill, co-author of the study Mundane emotions: losing yourself in boredom, time and technology.
“This research has given us a window to understand how the ‘always-on’, 24/7 culture and devices that promise an abundance of information and entertainment may be fixing our superficial boredom but are actually preventing us from finding more meaningful things. Those who engage in ‘digital detoxes’ may well be on the right path.”
Dr Hill explained that, although profound boredom may sound like an overwhelmingly negative experience, it can actually prove intensely positive when people get the chance for undistracted thinking and development.
The “relatively limited” research sampled 15 participants of varying age, occupational and education backgrounds in Ireland and England who were on paid leave or working from home.
“We think these initial findings will resonate with so many people’s experiences of the pandemic and their use of social media to alleviate boredom, and we would like to see this research taken further,” Dr Hill said.
