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What is Boredom?

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What is Boredom? Is it something our mind creates? Why do we experience something as very boring, while something else can be extremely fun? Why is it that we all have different views on what is boring and what is not boring. F.ex I find it boring to study german, but other persons love it.

Do we have the power to define something we experience as fun, as boring? Can we reprogram ourself to go from loving books, to almost fall asleep just seeing one? This might seem very difficult, but how is that we can go from finding something boring to start loving it? F.ex someone used to be bored of Philosophy but know love it.

Discuss.

@cjames phil,

cjames,

Great first post,it is one of those questions that a lot of people would consider simple until they try to answer it.It is a bit like being asked by a child why is the sky blue,there is an answer but not one available to the average person.I must admit to having not much to contribute here but shall be most interested in the coming responses.Again welcome, great first post!!

edit: On second thought perhaps boredom has to do with desire or rather the lack there of,where nothing grabs you,nothing moves you from within. So, you typically do not do anything but breath kind of shallowly after awhile.

@cjames phil,

Thanks for the warm welcome Boagie Smile

Very interesting point you have there. Also some more questions sprung to mind. What is the opposite of boredome, and what is in-between these to states?

@cjames phil,

cjames wrote:

Thanks for the warm welcome Boagie Very interesting point you have there. Also some more questions sprung to mind. What is the opposite of boredome, and what is in-between these to states?

cjames,

Interest and passion I would think the opposite of boredom,what is in between is the humdrum of life,doing the dishes,the necessities of everyday life.Hopefully others will jump in here with different perspectives to the problem---excellent questions though!

My apology,this is the young peoples forum,I am afraid I am disqualified on those terms.good luck with the thread! Smile

@boagie,

Your points are very good boagie, but I am still struggling with the question:

"Do we have the power to define something we experience as fun, as boring? Can we reprogram ourself to go from loving books, to almost fall asleep just seeing one? This might seem very difficult, but how is that we can go from finding something boring to start loving it? F.ex someone used to be bored of Philosophy but know love it."

I guess there is no easy answer to it, but perhaps we are searching and want things to be fun so going the opposite would be going against our own nature?

@cjames phil,

cjames,

I think it truely is an emotional thing,if something stirs you that use to bore you,you need to ask yourself what happened here,did I suddenly find an aspect in this that moves me?Has the change been in you,the object or both,something has changed,what?

@cjames phil,

Hmm... good question.

To answer it, yes you can re-program yourself. Many people miss the fact that we have the power within us to do anything we desire. If that is re-programing out minds to find things we once thought were boring, fun then we can do that. This takes conscious effort and hard work but it can be done. Actually, I believe we do it all the time, unknowingly.

Your example on Philosophy being boring but now love it... That may come with age and maturity. The older I get the more I want to discover the meaning of all of this nonsense and the purpose for our existence. When it comes to Philosophy, Philosophy is at the heart and core of everything we do from our business to our thoughts to how we treat each other. How can one get bored with that.

When you go to sleep at night you have thoughts. When you wake up in the morning you have thoughts. These thoughts are programming your day. If you wake up and think you are going to have a boring and dull day, then you will because your mind has made it so. So to change the boredom and re-program your mind, I think the first step is to be grateful for what we have. Look at all the positive things going on around us and in our lives and don't take them for granted. Positive thoughts produce positive reactions and manifestations and what we thought at one time was boring, will not bore us at all because we see it in a different light. - This is my opinion and I have not studied boredom or it's nature.

@cjames phil,

aha! Interesting Question! Smile

I think it is linked to the 3 'feelings' we have, love, hate, neutral. If we stay long enough in a situation which we consider as a neutral experience we might consider in boring, because it doesnt stimulate any of our sense. Now, why do certain situation, things not stimulate us at all....I have to think about it Smile

@cjames phil,

Excellen post Justin, and that is a good question Cherryberry. I wonder why we never go the opposite way ( at least I have never), from finding something fun to find it boring. The only thing I can think of is what we did as small changes, which we probably find boring now (like playing in the sandbox etc). But that must be a result of maturity, so is it possible for a grown person to go the opposite way?

@cjames phil,

cjames wrote:

Excellen post Justin, and that is a good question Cherryberry. I wonder why we never go the opposite way ( at least I have never), from finding something fun to find it boring. The only thing I can think of is what we did as small changes, which we probably find boring now (like playing in the sandbox etc). But that must be a result of maturity, so is it possible for a grown person to go the opposite way?

Here is a thought about the Sandbox Wink

I just had an image in my mind when I read it....I think grown ups still enjoy the same, they just use different materials - for example making pottery, building shelves,...

I thought about what I find boring - watching sports on TV...doesnt stimulate me at all, yet I can watch cooking. I do sports myself and I cook, why do I like one and not the other? I am going to keep thinking about it!

@cjames phil,

Lack of motivation or interest could lead to boredom.
As for reprogramming oneself, I don't see why you couldn't. Although I still don't like the same foods now as I did when I was a kid, regardless what my mother told me...I understand what you were saying about the topic.

@Aristoddler,

I was just wondering if you could elaborate on the motivation/interest in whether or not something is boring. For instance, I'm motivated to go to my art history class so I can get a good grade. Also, I find art history interesting, but many times the class does become boring and i find my mind wandering off. Even though I enjoy the new information, and I am motivated to go, why do I still find the class boring?

@cjames phil,

Often when I see that a subject has a lack of purpose, I get bored with it easily.
I saw my abstract art class as a purposeless endeavor, since the whole purpose of abstract is to show something that is not coherent...analyzing it was boring for me.
Personally, I didn't care what mood Picasso was in when he painted "Skull and Pitcher" or why he chose to use oil instead of acrylic, and I didn't think that his colour palette should have been dissected in an art class...so I found it rather boring.

@cjames phil,

We should start connecting threads now - cause I've seen another boredom thread elsewhere.

For me, boredom is nonexistent. I just really don't know what it is! Or it is nonexistent. Yeah it's nonexistent.

@platorepublic,

platorepublic;157588 wrote:

We should start connecting threads now - cause I've seen another boredom thread elsewhere.

For me, boredom is nonexistent. I just really don't know what it is! Or it is nonexistent. Yeah it's nonexistent.

Could it not be nonexistence?
Or are you saying that you are never bored?

(This thread is on the nature of boredom, where as the one i created was about how to elevate yourself out of boredom and just so happened to turn into an exposition on boredom. Surly there are many threads about the various degrees of what makes a philosopher should we 'connect' them as well? What do you mean about connecting threads?)

@sometime sun,

sometime sun;157617 wrote:

Could it not be nonexistence?
Or are you saying that you are never bored?

(This thread is on the nature of boredom, where as the one i created was about how to elevate yourself out of boredom and just so happened to turn into an exposition on boredom. Surly there are many threads about the various degrees of what makes a philosopher should we 'connect' them as well? What do you mean about connecting threads?)

I am never bored. So I don't know what it is, except only when people say it, I could sort of imply what it could be. Lol, I don't think I have any mental disorders or anything, but maybe I do, but who gets bored on Earth. I mean you could get bored if you were trapped on the Moon.

And uh, connect threads if the topic is similar.

@platorepublic,

platorepublic;157639 wrote:

I am never bored. So I don't know what it is, except only when people say it, I could sort of imply what it could be. Lol, I don't think I have any mental disorders or anything, but maybe I do, but who gets bored on Earth. I mean you could get bored if you were trapped on the Moon.

And uh, connect threads if the topic is similar.

So boredom is for those with mental disorders?
So boredom is for the trapped?

Mental and physical incarceration is un-natural so so is boredom un-natural?
I think there is something to that.

@cjames phil,

boredom is for the uninspired, uneducated, unmotivated and hopeless. my mother was never bored. she was not a philosopher...i never really liked her. (sorry, mom.)

i have been bored a lot, and mine always came from hopelessness. comes and goes...

@cjames phil,

Boredome is when ones instincts of inner selfish values are not stimulated. And It's about the concious and subconcious values to be stimulated.

Some may find rocket sience utterly boring, whilst those who like rocket sience may find a good rock concert utterly boring.

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